A New Strategy
by TREBOR117
Summary: I was just a guy who liked playing Yu-gi-oh! Now I've ended up in a world based around that game. And I might not be the only one. I have no idea what happened, or why I've been called here, but I do know one thing: If someone wants to duel me, I'm going to cut them down to size!
1. First moves- An unexpected Challenge!

"And that's a direct attack, so if my math is right-" I grinned ear to ear. "I win."

Jack grumbled as he picked his cards back up and started shuffling them. "That was at least a closer duel."

"True." I said, glancing at my second deck and debating switching.

Oh, maybe now would be a good time to introduce myself. Don't really mind Jack here- he's more of a supporting character than anything.

He's also one of my best friends, even though he's a couple years younger than me. He's also the guy who first got me back into Yu-Gi-Oh.

I'd watched the first series as a kid- up to maybe the very beginning of battle city, but I didn't remember much beyond duelist kingdom. So when he first convinced me to get my old cards out...well, I tried summoning a level 8 monster without any tributes. Said monster was also a fusion monster.

...I trid to look at that memory and see how far I've come, but normally I just facepalmed. Jack did eventually introduce me to dueling network- or maybe I introduced him, who knows- which meant I could build a much better deck with much better cards than what I had access to and improve vastly.

"You know, that deck would be a lot better if you-"

"Jack, for the last time, I can't use synchro monsters." I shook my head as I shuffled. "Getting the balance of tuners and non tuners right just is beyond me. I prefer XYZ or tribute summoning anyway."

He looked at me, than at my extra deck. "All you have for XYZ monsters are Gem Knight Pearl and Utopia."  
"I rarely end up using them anyway- it's more of a last resort. Why would I need them anyway when I've got monsters just as strong I can tribute summon?"

"Fine, fine. You have time for another game?"

I glanced at the time. "Nah, I better get home actually."

He pouted slightly, but nodded. "Think we can get together next weekend to hang out?"

"We'll see."

…"Famous last words" is the phrase that comes to mind at that.

Line Break

"Money well spent." I commented to myself, leaning back in my chair as I closed the Ebay Window.

_So, that'll give me two of him now too- so I'll actually be able to have him in both decks instead of having to move him. _I picked up the card in question- Reflect Bounder, still my favorite card.

1700 ATK, DEF 1100, level four- none too shabby. His effect was what really earned him a place in my deck though. When he was attacked, he'd reflect damage equal to the attacking monsters ATK back at the opponent before damage calculation- handy to hold off some of Jack's stronger monsters.

And he was one of the few monsters I had in my decks now that I'd had before some purchases on E-Bay or structure decks I'd bought.

_Well, it's kinda late, but...eh, screw it, one last Duel on Dueling Network won't kill me. _

I opened the quick link I'd set up, and quickly typed in my info.

As I did, something caught my attention in the corner of my eye. I picked up Reflect Bounder- noting to myself that since he was a rare version, I'd be able to tell him apart from the new card when it showed up.

_Yeah, cause the gold text glows a little in the light...except the only light is from my computer screen, and RB shouldn't be catching light from that...did I miss something here, or am I just half asleep?_

My eyes suddenly seemed to be sliding shut of their own accord, and as I tried to keep them open, the card seemed to be getting closer and closer to me, even as my hand dropped to my side and I fell back in my chair, eyes finally slamming shut.

* * *

"Are you going to go or not?"

My eyes snapped open, and I half took a step back as I saw..._Okay, that's a goddamn Dragon. With an Axe._

"Look, there's a lot of people waiting to duel to get in, so either go or leave." I suddenly noticed a guy across from me, behind the Dragon. I looked at his arm, then what he was holding in his hand- then I looked down at my own hand and arm. _Okay, maybe I've been playing this game too much. _I half shook my head.

_So, duel disks complete with holograms- yeah, this is a dream. F*** it, I'll go along with it._

"Alright, my draw." I glanced again at the disks as I did so- looked like the standard one from the Battle City arc, while he had one from the GX era.

_So, that looks like Axe Dragonute, 2000 ATK- _a little holographic indicator suddenly appeared next to it, showing not only it's ATK, but also its effects. I looked at the cards in my hand and saw they were from the real world as well, as opposed to the edited versions from the dubbed shows.

_Which means- _"Alright, I'll set a monster in defense mode, and set two cards on the backrow. Back to you."

He drew, and smiled. "I activate Heavy Storm, which will destroy both of your facedown cards."

"I know what it does." I grumbled, tossing the two into my grave. _So much for Zoma or Magic Cylinder…the former means this is my more defensive deck. So that should hold up without too much trouble. _

"Next, I tribute my Axe Dragonute for Luster Dragon Number 2." ATK 2400.

The axe wielding dragon was replaced with a far larger one, that looked as if it was made of pure emerald.

"Now, I'll have him attack your facedown card."

"I don't think so- I play the effect of a monster in my hand- Construction Train Signal Red, which lets me summon it onto the field and change the attack target to it." DEF 1300. "And thanks to the second part of its effect, it can't be destroyed by this battle."

The creature that appeared resembled a train with eyes where its lights would be, and hands like a forklift's lifters.

He looked at the card a moment, as if he didn't recognize it- not that I'd have been surprised if that was true, since it was a newer card from a booster pack I'd only bought a week before.

He shrugged a moment later. "Then I'll put one card facedown and end my turn."

I drew, glancing at my options. _Dian Keto- yep, this is definitely my defensive deck...which normally involves waiting until I have enough to summon one of my big three monsters. But would I have those here? This looks like the wrong era for most of my cards...yeah, definitely no XYZ at the moment._

"Alright, I'll activate the spell card Dian Keto the Cure Master, which will boost my life points by 1000." A counter suddenly appeared just to the side of me, and it climbed up to 5000. _So, starting low. I can still work with that though- one attack from some of my big guns would take this guy down in one hit...assuming I have them either._

"Then I'll set another monster in defense mode."

He drew his card. "I'll discard Curse of Dragon from my hand to activate Lightning Vortex, which will destroy all faceup monsters you control."

I sent my Train Signal to the grave, surprised by how easily it slid in.

"Next, I'll pay 800 life points to activate premature burial, and bring Curse of Dragon back from my grave to the field." ATK 2000. "So now I'll have my new monster attack the facedown on my right."  
I smiled. "That means Night Assailant's flip effect is free to kick in- and it will let me destroy your Luster Dragon Number 2."

As the Dragon lunged forward and my monster was revealed, he threw his sword straight into my opponent's other dragon. My monster was then destroyed by a burst of fire launched from Curse.

"I'll end my turn with that." He said, sounding a little annoyed now.

"Back to me then." I drew, and smiled. "I tribute my facedown Necro Gardna for Heroic Challenger War Hammer!" ATK 2100.

The blue and silver armored monster hefted his hammer, which was large enough to make Thor jealous, and had a nasty spike on the other end. His helmet even had some spikes not terrible different than the horns on Loki's helmet.

"And now, let's see your dragon match this!" I shrugged after a moment. _When in the show, you call your attacks...doesn't really translate from the saying about rome so well, but whatever. _"Heroic Hammer Smash!"

It rushed forward and the Dragon's head caved in under the blow, dropping my opponent to 3100LP.

"Now, I'll activate War Hammer's effect, which lets me equip your monster to him, and boost his power by that of your Dragon's."

"That gives your monster 4100 ATK." He said, though I couldn't tell if he was surprised, annoyed, impressed or all three.

"Glad to see you can do math." I said smugly. " I'll end my turn with that."

He drew, and smiled. "I activate Pot of Greed, which-"

"I know what Pot of Greed does! Everyone in the world knows what that card does! It lets you Draw 2 cards!" _And it's banned...not that Jack or I really ever cared about minor things like that. Something like Envoy of the end or Raigeki, sure, but something like that or Heavy...guess my dream at least has decent taste._

"I activate Monster Reborn to bring back the Necro Gardna in your grave." ATK 600.

The small armored warrior appeared in front of my opponent, warrior's white ponytail swinging behind him.

_Hmm, that means I can't use it to negate an attack...but what could he attack with that would be able to beat-_

"Then I activate the spell card Creature Swap."

"...Okay, didn't see that one coming."

"Normally we'd be able to pick which monster the other got, but since we each only have one out-" War Hammer went over to his side, and Necro came back to me.

"Now, I'll have War Hammer attack Necro Gardna! Go, Heroic Hammer Smash!"

I'd always wondered how holograms could hurt anyone- I found out when the hammer smashed through my monster and into me, knocking me flat on my ass.

"Oww." I said lamely as I got back up.

"I'll end my turn with that." He said smugly.

_Not that he doesn't have a right to be- he just dropped my LP to 2500. And he still has 3100. _

I drew again, and had to stop myself from chuckling as I set the monster facedown. "That'll do it for me- back to you."

He drew, and smiled. "I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode!" ATK 1900.

The creature resembled a smaller saphire version of the earlier dragon.

"So now, I'll have it attack your facedown."

"Fine by me-" The card flipped over, revealing what looked like a one-eyed grinning worm thing. "Morphing Jar's flip effect just kicked in! Which means we both discard anything in our hands and draw five new cards."

He grumbled as he did so, while I tossed what useless things I had left and smiled at my new hand. "I take it you're going to attack with War Hammer next?"

"You think?"

"In that case, since Necro Gardna's back in my grave thanks to you- I'll activate its effect to negate that attack."

"Then I'll set one of my new cards in the backrow and end my turn."

I took a breath as I drew, and had to let it out slowly as I saw what I'd managed to get. _Yes! This can take down even War Hammer while he's powered up!...But I need three tributes for it…If I can get Double Coston, I've also got double summon and monster reborn, so I can bring him out...meanwhile, this guy should be enough to stop any attacks from him. _

"I'll set a card in the back row and end my turn."

He drew without really looking at his card. "I'll activate my face down Dust Tornado to destroy the card you just set."

_Didn't think he'd fall for Draining Shield, but it was worth a try._

"Now, I'll have your own monster attack you directly."

"No, I don't think you will." I said calmly as the monster hefted his hammer.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I play the effect of another monster in my hand- Swift Scarecrow! By discarding it, I can negate your direct attack and instantly end the battle phase!"

If he'd been surprised before, this time he was far more so. "Where are you getting all these cards I haven't heard of?!"

"Ebay." I responded. "You doing anything else, or can we just get to the part where you're about to lose?"

He laughed. "Okay, this should be good."  
"Indeed." I looked at my deck as I set my hand on the top card. _Okay, I can bring back a monster with Monster Reborn, but even with double summon that only gives me 2 monsters. I need something that'd let me play a third, and better yet something to survive another round in case this goes wrong._

I drew, and smiled. _Not the card I was hoping for, but nonetheless- _"I summon Reflect Bounder in attack mode!" ATK 1700. "And that'll do it for my turn."  
He looked at his life points, clearly thinking the same thing I was. If he attacked with Luster Dragon, he'd barely survive RB's effect, which would leave me wide open for an attack.

"Alright, I'll attack your monster with Luster Dragon!"

"RB, do your thing!" As the monster flew forward, my machine projected a hologram from his central mirror, identical to that of the monster flying at him; both struck their targets at the same time, the real deal destroying my monster and knocking me down to 2200, the hologram slamming into him and knocking him down to 1200.

He wiped his mouth as he stood back up. "Alright, time to finish this. I'll attack you directly with your own monster- and I doubt you've got another Scarecrow in your hand."

"I do not." I gave him my best troll smile. "I do have a Kuriboh though, which will let me reduce the damage from War Hammer's attack to zero."

The small brown fluffball floated in front of me to stop the attack, and I put the card in my graveyard.

"You got lucky- but you won't again."

_Here's hoping he's wrong. _I thought as I looked at my deck. _Come on, only one card will- _I stopped the thought as I looked at the card. _Actually, that'll work too. _"I summon Mecha Phantom Beast Tether Wolf to the field!" ATK 1700.

The creature appeared, essentially a wolf-shaped living helicopter. "And because of his effect, I can summon a Mecha Phantom Beast Token!" What looked like a smaller version of the monster joined him on the field. DEF 0.

"Next, I activate Monster Reborn and since he saved me last round, I'll use it to bring back the fluff ball. Kuriboh, come back out!" DEF 200.

"Not a bad way to build a wall, but in the long run it won't do you much good."

I smiled. "One problem with your theory- there's not going to be any running outside the short term. I activate the spell card Double Summon! Which means I can summon one additional time this turn!"

"So you're going to tribute for something to take down Luster- not bad, but still not enough to beat me."

"I'm bringing out a monster that even that powered up War Hammer can't stand up to!...Though for the sake of beating you, I am going to have it wipe out Luster Dragon." I admitted as I switched the card to my right hand as I pointed to my field. "I tribute Tether Wolf, my Token, _and _Kuriboh!"

"Three monsters?! What card could you-"

"You ever heard of the Egyption God Cards?"

"Of course I-...you couldn't possibly have one of those!"

"Nope." I smiled again. "But _Wicked _Gods on the other hand…"

"Wicked-?!"

"I call forth Obelisk's Dark Counterpart!" I said, deciding to ham it up because why the heck not. "Rise up- The Wicked Dreadroot!"

A fiery fissure opened in the ground, and a pair of giant hands came out of it, crushing my monsters and pulling them in. Evil laughter echoed from within the pit as the hands came back out, and the creature slowly pushed itself out.

I had to strain my neck as it stood up fully- even with its feet still in the pit, the monster's head brushed the ceiling. It was green skinned, wearing massive bones as armor, including a horned skull that the creature used as a helmet. Massive wings stretched wide as it roared, drowning out any other sound. ATK 4000.

"That's...that's…"

"About to completely destroy you? Indeed. Wicked Dreadroot! Wipe out Luster Dragon!" _And since Obelisk's attack was called 'fist of fate'..._"Fist of Fatality!"

4000 ATK vs 1900...even if Dreadroot's effect hadn't halved the latter, it was still more than enough to smash clean through the dragon and wipe out the rest of my opponent's life points- the fist hitting him in the chest and sending him flying on his ass, harder than I'd hit earlier.

"So, if I did the math right- oh, what'da know? I win you lose." I quipped as the holograms faded.

I waited a few moments, expecting the dream to end. Instead, I saw the guy get back up, and rub the back of his head. "I'll be honest kid, I'm not quite sure how to call that."

"Call what? The duel? You weren't exactly bad, but the lifepoints make the result pretty clear."

"Yeah, with cards I doubt anyone in this room has ever heard of, and one I doubt anyone will forget any time soon."

_Anyone in this room? Who else is- _For the first time, I looked up at something other than the ten story monster, and realized we were in a giant domed stadium. And the seats were full of people wearing Red, Yellow, and Blue.

_...Did I just duel to get into Duel Academy?_

"Hey kid!"

I turned and saw a couple of big guys walking towards me. "Come with us. Doctor Crowler would like a word with you."

I blinked. "Who?" _Did I just hear that right?...Damnit, if I was going to end up in Yu-Gi-Oh, why GX and not...then again the original my deck would stand out even more, Zexal I hated, and I can't even ride motorcycles, let along play card games on them._

"Doctor Crowler? You know, the lady in charge of all this?" The guy said impaintly.

Big guy 2 turned to him and said in an undertone. "I'm pretty sure the Doc's a guy."

"What? You're nuts. Have you seen that hair? And those clothes?"

"I didn't say he was a normal guy."

Big guy 1 shook his head and turned back to me. "Either way, the doctor wants a word with you. She's-"

"He's."

"Fine, He's curious about some of those cards."

They flanked me on either side, and I decided to go along with them.

_After all, this is just a dream… Right?_

As I looked around though, I was starting to wonder if that was really the case. I looked down at my hands, and slowly pressed a finger to the palm of the other one, willing it to go through. It bounced off instead. Something else occurred to me, and I quickly pulled Necro Gardna out of my pocket, looking at it. The text made sense, and it was all there- even if I had the effect memorized, I knew there was no way I'd be able to remember the exact wording like that in a dream.

_So if this isn't a dream, and I begin to suspect it somehow isn't… then just what the heck is going on?_


	2. Rematch- Duel for the Academy!

The two goons led me into an office in the outside of the arena, and pointed to a chair. Deciding that I enjoyed living, I didn't argue with them, and sat down. As I did, I felt something press against my hip, and I reached down to find what appeared to be an empty deck holster, and another that actually held a deck.

_Which is likely to be my Assault Deck...which in the real world had two Blue Eyes White Dragons...I doubt they'd be in it here though. _I gave a quick glance around, then pulled it out and started flipping through it, looking more for the distinctive dragons than what was actually there.

_So that's a no then...not sure if I'm disappointed or not._ I heard footsteps and shoved the deck away to examine later.

The door opened, and I had to work to keep from laughing at the attire of the guy that walked through. _Definitely can see why they'd think Crowler's a chick though._

_Also, WHY THE F***ING F*** IS CROWLER IN FRONT OF ME! He's a F***ing fictional character!...of course the device I still have on my arm is fictional too, but that I could swallow a bit easier since the tech could theoretically exist or…if this isn't a dream it'll suck but if my subconscious is actually this weird it might suck even more._

"Well, do you have anything to say for yourself Mr. Fenix?"

I gave him a blank look.

"Mark Fenix- that is your name, is it not?"  
"Uh...yeah, that's me." I said, wondering if the universe has a sense of humor. The first name was right, but..._a Gears of War Character gave me my last name? Jeez, might as well name myself after James Bond or something._

"And what do you have to say for yourself?"

"What, think I should've gone easier on him?" I said, for lack of anything else.

"Your written test scores were...tolerable, but still in the lower middle range." He snapped, in the tone I'd learned meant 'shut up and listen or you'll get detention' when used by a teacher. "Now, you have this odd performance as well."

He went silent, obviously waiting for me to say something.

"Odd in what way?" I finally asked._ That I beat my duel instructor? Because I know Jaden- at least I'm guessing his name wouldn't be Judai since you're using your english name- is going to kick your ass too if he hasn't already._

"What were those cards you used? Red Train Signal? Deadroot? Elemental Hero Hammer?"

"Construction Train Signal Red, Wicked _Dread_root- dread, not dead- and Hero_ic _Challenger War Hammer." I corrected him. _The way he said that last one makes me think Jaden definitely already did his job. _"And apparently Swift Scarecrow is a lesser known card as well."

"Lesser known?"

I decided on a risk. "You didn't know Winged Kuriboh's effect earlier, so obviously even the best duelists and or duel teachers can't be aware of every card." I balanced the insult with a light- and somewhat implied only- complement.

He weighed my words a moment. "I might have believed that if I hadn't checked the Industrial Illusions database- there's no record of any of those four cards." He tapped his chin. "I've been at this long enough to tell when someone is blatantly lying- though you don't seem to be. So I'll ask again: where did you get the cards?"

"They came from booster packs." I said carefully. _Though that's not directly where I got them from._

"And you just happened to have four cards most people would never have heard of, despite that the should be as well known as-"

"If Kaiba wasn't a complete egotistical glory hog, he might just as easily never shown off his three dragons and they'd have faded into obscurity too." I cut him off calmly. "Or maybe these were accidentally released ahead of time- regardless, I fail to see the problem."

"You don't see the problem with someone waltzing in here with a card as powerful as Obelisk?"

"Well, you haven't seemed to complain about the counterparts I also have for Ra and Slifer, so…"

You know how creepy anime faces sometimes get? Imagine that, but on a real person's face. And far more disturbing.

"You have _three _of these...Wicked Gods?!" He asked in disbelief.

"Dreadroot, Eraser, and Avatar, yes." I shrugged. "Least, that's what I've taken to calling them, though they're not nearly as powerful as the Egyptian Gods." _Not the anime versions anyway, since they're vulnerable to card effects and can't be special summoned. _"Their effects are just...comparable. That and they take three tributes."

He tapped his chin, obviously thinking. "I can't prove you got them by illicit means- but they're powerful enough to be suspect regardless."

"This coming from a guy who uses a monster with the same attack as Blue Eyes White Dragon, but that also keeps traps or spells from being activated when it attacks and has piercing."

"...That is a completely different matter."

"Look, there's got to be some point to this, right? Either you're about to say 'sorry but you can't come to duel academy' or there's another option you're working your way to."

He pursed his lips. "You kept calm, and you seem to know your deck inside and out. That's something I can respect."

"Meaning…"

"If you can beat another test proctor without using the aforementioned banned cards, then you'll be allowed in. Though the usage of those cards will be up for review at a later date as far as testing goes."

"Seems fair enough." I said after a minute_. _"I'll just switch to my second deck." _I still have no idea what's going on, but since dueling seems to solve anything around here…what's the worst that could happen?_

_ ...Unless this became a shadow game, in which case plenty of bad things could happen._

* * *

"Gotta say teach, I'm a little confused. You said we'd be dueling, not playing the guitar."

"It's a duel coat you…!" He hefted the object with an annoyed sound. It was basically just the card zones of the duel disk, held up by a little metal arm and supported with a free hand, while the rest of his cards were stored in a device on his chest.

"Uh huh. You going first or am I?"

He motioned to me, and I shrugged as I acquiesced. _Traps are going to be next to useless, and his big gun has piercing...good thing this monster should help deal with the latter. _" I summon my Amazoness Swords Woman in attack mode!" ATK 1500.

An extremely muscular woman holding a sword appeared in front of me.

"Then I'll set one card on the back row for later."

He drew his cards, and nodded half to himself.

"I'll summon Ancient Gear in attack mode." ATK 100. "Then, I'll use the effect of the Ancient Gear still in my hand to special summon it as well."

_Two monsters out on his first turn- easy to guess what he plans to do his next. I need something a bit stronger to deal with that, but so far I've got nothing._

"Then I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

I drew, and looked at the facedown card. _My facedown is Threatening Roar- it'd let me keep him from attacking, as long as I used it ASAP, before the battle phase could begin._

_ But if he doesn't know about my Amazon's ability- long shot, but worth a try. Because even if she were in defense mode, since her effect means my opponent takes any battle damage I normally would instead. Battle damage including piercing damage like his Golum's. _

_ Of course, he'd have to summon it before he could do anything else- and I don't plan to give him a chance to do so. _

"I summon Pitch-Black Warwolf!" ATK 1600

A humanoid black wolf appeared on the field, wicked looking sword in hand. "And much like your Golem, his effect means that you cannot activate trap cards during the battle phase."

"But I can during your main phase- and I activate Zero Gravity, to change the battle positions of all face up monsters on the field!"

I swore at myself mentally. _Blast it. Now he can attack me through my War Wolf, even if my Amazoness's effect will still work._

Both crouched down into a kneeling position, sword raised in front of them defensively- DEF 600 and 1600 respectively.

His monsters likewise switched positions. DEF 800.

"I'll activate Card Trader then- which will let me shuffle a card from my hand for a new one from my deck during my Standby Phase. Back to you teach."

He drew, but he hardly even looked at it. "I tribute my two Ancient Gears for my Ancient Gear Golem!"

The massive machine appeared on the field, gears whirring as it moved into position. ATK 3000.

"I activate the trap card Threatening Roar! Which means during this turn, you're unable to attack." I smiled wryly. "Guess our monsters both have that whole 'still vulnerable to traps during the main phases' thing going on, huh?"

"So it would appear." He said, sourly. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

I drew, and smiled. "I'll set this aside for later-" I moved it to the far side of my hand, then grabbed my all but useless Magic Cylinder "-and use card trader's effect to shuffle this in for a new card." _Good thing I got the hang of this shuffling thing down. _I thought as I quickly did so, then drew the new top card. _Double Summon- no good now, but it might come in handy later. Meanwhile- here's hoping that facedown isn't anything that'd work on his own machines. _"I activate Enemy Controller! And I'll use its second effect- so by tributing my Pitch Black Warwolf, I can take control of any monster you control until the end of my turn. I think you can guess which one." I chuckled as his monster slowly lumbered over to me. "Now, I'm terribly sorry, but I seem to have forgotten the name of this monster's attack so I can use it on you- would you be so kind as to refresh my memory?"

He grimaced. "The attack is-"

"Mechanized Melee!" The fist caught him in the gut, making him double over as his life points dropped down to 1000.

"What'da know, I remembered after all."

"True, but you didn't remember to switch your other monster into attack mode as well." He said haughtily as he stood back up.

"Why would I do that and end the fun so early? But since you mentioned it, I'll switch her back in main phase 2, then end my turn. Which means your monster's back to you."

The creature slowly lumbered back over.

He drew. "I summon the Trojan Horse in attack mode!" ATK 1600.

The monster that appeared looked very much like its greek namesake.

"Now, I'll have it attack your Amazoness Swordswoman."

The charging horse plowed through her, but it was stopped short of hitting me as well, the sword flying into its haunches and making it veer wildly, slamming into crowler and knocking him down to 900.

"As much as that looked like it hurt- I get the feeling that this is going to hurt way more."

"Indeed. Her effect only works while she's on the field, but since she's no longer here to protect you- Ancient Gear Golem! Mechanized Melee!"

_Sometimes I hate Karma. _I thought as I pushed myself back up to my feet. "Alright, back to me."  
I drew, and immediately put the card back into my deck with Card Trader. _Come on, I need...do I have two of this card now? _I wondered, looking at Reflect Bounder.

_Risky to throw him out- if he has something else that'd put him in defense mode, I'm hosed. But if he doesn't...I don't have any other real options. _"I summon Reflect Bounder in attack mode!" ATK 1700. "And before I end my turn, I feel that you should privy to his effect as well. When he's attacked, before damage calculation, you take damage equal to that of the attacking monster. And since an attack from either monster would take you down...well, it's something you ought to consider."

He drew, and looked at his new card for a moment as though in disbelief, before he smiled wickedly. "I activate the effect of The Trojan Horse- which means it can act as two tributes for an earth type monster. Which means, I'll sacrifice it to bring out a second Ancient Gear Golem!"

"Two at once?" I asked in disbelief.

"But of course since I can't attack your creature, I'll just change my first golem to defense mode." DEF 3000. "Then I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

_Bloody clever of him- if that thing's Zero Gravity, all he has to do is activate his next turn to force RB into defense mode, and attack with his first monster. If I change him to defense mode myself instead, he can just attack with the one he just summoned._

I drew, and looked at the card in disbelief. _Well, guess I know what replaced Blue Eyes now. But I need two to tribute for him...at least two…_ "I'll use Card Trader's effect." I said, shuffling a card in and hoping as I set it back in my disk for a draw, that I'd get the miracle I needed to win.

_I've got two of these cards, so it's about one in twenty now...if there's such thing as a heart of the cards, now's the time to prove it._

I held my breath as I drew, and let it out with a not completely satisfied huff. _Well, it's not what I needed but it might get me what I do. _"I activate Pot of Greed."

I looked at my two new cards and smiled in satisfaction. "First off, I activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face down."

It flipped face up as it was destroyed, and I noted with some satisfaction I'd been right about it being Zero Gravity.

"Next, I summon Kaiser Seahorse to the field!" ATK 1700.

The aquatic looking warrior appeared, barbed weapon in hand.

"I hope you don't actually think you'll be able last until next turn to summon something to beat my golems."

"Who said anything about waiting? I activate the spell card Double Summon, allowing me an additional summon during my turn." I smiled. "And much like Trojan Horse can be used as two tributes for an earth monster, Sea Horse can be used as two for a light monster. So I'll tribute both my creatures to summon forth-" I slammed the card on the disc, and the monster likewise exploded out. "Gilford the Lightning!" ATK 2800

The armor clad warrior appeared on the field in a flash of lightning, energy crackling around his sword.

"And thanks to Gilford's effect, I'm allowed to summon him with three tributes- which I did, thanks to Sea Horse- and when he's summoned that way, he destroys every monster my opponent controls." _Not a bad substitution for Blue Eyes and Burst Stream of Destruction. _

He swung his sword, a wave of energy sweeping forth and wiping both golems off the face of the earth. "And now for the fun part- Gilford the Lightning! Attack directly with Lightning Sword!"

I half expected to see his skeleton when the sword hit Crowler, but instead it just looked like it really really hurt and he fell to the ground twitching as his life points dropped to nothing.

I chuckled as the holograms faded. "See you in class teach." I said, turning to walk out of the arena.

_After being hit by Gear Golem...no way this is a dream. That hurt too much to be not real...or not holographic real...whatever._

_Which leaves me with two main questions. How slash why did I get here, and how do I get back?_

_ And around here, I'm betting the solution is going to involve dueling. So this will either be totally awesome...or I'll get stuck in a shadow game, lose my soul, and it'll suck completely._

_ ...I need two think of a good opener. Yugi slash the Pharaoh had "It's time to Duel" Jaden has "Get your Game on" and Yusei has- or I guess will have- "Let's Rev it up"_

_...Maybe "Time to cut you down to size?"_

_ ...No, that's stupid. Meh, I'll think of something sooner or later._


	3. Ante Duel- Sea Clash!

_Okay, not that I wasn't somewhat expecting this...but why the f*** does crowler think I ought to be in Slifer?! I mean, I can understand no Obelisk since I kicked his ass into next week, but still! I think I ought to at least rate Ra!_

_...Then again, Jaden could've made Ra if he wasn't a moron that actually preferred Slifer, so I ought to go up in the world pretty quick._

I shrugged on the jacket and glanced around the cabin of the ship that was taking us to the academy island. _I hope so anyway, because this parta the world doesn't have much elbow room._

I glanced at the bed, but aside from the fact that the mattress hardly looked comfortable, I doubted I'd be able to sleep, so I headed for the front of the boat, figuring it'd be a better place to think.

And if I got sea sick, I'd be able to throw up over the water instead of into something I needed and or wanted.

After a moment, I grabbed my decks and disk. I'd eat my boots if I didn't end up using it at least twice.

I heard an explosion as I reached the front of the boat, and caught sight of holograms fading away. "Don't you slackers get tired of losing?"

It was dark, but there was enough moon light to see that the person speaking was wearing blue. "Anyone else want to try me?"

_Assault or Defense...this guy needs to get taken down hard, but since I'd rather not keep the god card's abilities a little more secret and Gilford can deliver a beat down just as easily as blue eyes, he's getting that treatment. _I grabbed my assault deck and slid it into my disk as I walked into view. "This a private party, or can anyone join to take you down a peg?"

He looked at me, and I got my first view of him. Bald, tall, and I thought he was tanned, but anything else I couldn't quite make out. "You guys in red just never know when to quit, do you."

"Wouldn't matter what color I'm wearing- I'm just not a fan of your type." I activated the disk as I got on the other side of the boat, across from him. "So you wanna talk, or you wanna duel?"

"Hold up pal- you want to duel me, there's a price. This here's going to be an ante duel."

I raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess- we aren't at duel academy yet, so you think the rules don't apply to you?"

"You wanna duel, put up your best."

"Let's see yours first." I responded.

He grinned, and took his deck out to show me the card in question. "I wager my Phoenix Beast Gairuda."

_Hmm, level 6, 2500 ATK, gains 300 when attacking...dunno how rare it is, but it's not bad as far as power goes._

I grabbed my defense deck, and shuffled through until I found the card I was looking for. "I'll wager Jinzo."

"Heh, always wanted one of those."

"You'll have to look somewhere else then." I put Jinzo into the empty assault holster. _Okay, okay, think up something to say…no, wheel of time reference doesn't fit cause this is cards not dice…_

"Hit me with your best shot." He said, activating his own disk and drawing his opening five.

"You couldn't handle my _best _shot." I said, drawing my own five cards. _Think of something to say, something to say…_ "Let's do this!" I drew my sixth card, despite wanting to smack myself instead for not coming up with a better line.

_Okay, focus, focus. _ I looked at my hand. "I set one monster in defense mode, and two cards on the back row."

He drew, and looked at his hand a moment, thinking. "I summon Mirage Dragon in attack mode!" ATK 1600.

The monster was rather familiar to me, since it was one of my own favorites; a long sinuous Chinese-style yellow dragon with a massive forehead that stretched back as it roared at me.

"Now, since his effect means you can't activate any traps during the battle phase- attack! Mirage Blast!"

I smiled. "Who said the back row was where my traps were?" My monster flipped face up, revealing the snarling image of what looked like a pink catlike porcupine. "Thanks to Thousand Needles' effect, when it's attacked by a monster with attack points lower than its defense points, that monster is destroyed. And since he's got 1800 Def compared to Mirage's 1600…"

The blast of fire was absorbed into my creatures quill's and sent back as...well, a thousand needles that ripped the other monster to shreds. "And of course, since you attacked a stronger monster with a weaker-"

He grimaced as his life points decreased to 3800. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

I drew, and smiled. "Deja Vu. I summon my own Mirage Dragon to the field!"

"I activate my face down card- Torrential Tribute! Because you summoned a monster-"

"Every monster on the field is destroyed, I know." I slid both monsters into the grave with a curse. _Where's that really hard to say the name of monster when I need it? _"In that case, I'll have to end my turn as is."

He drew, and smiled devilishly. "I'll activate the spell card Ancient Rules, which lets me summon a normal monster from my hand directly to the field. So come on out- Cyber-Tech Alligator!" ATK 2500. "But since he wasn't a normal summon, I still one left. So I'll also summon Sonic Duck in attack mode!" ATK 1900.

_And if those attacks connect, my life points are in the negative._

"Sonic Duck, you attack first with Sonic Rush!"

_Good thing they won't._

"I activate one of my face down cards- Enemy Controller! And I'll use its first effect, which means your duck is forced into defense mode."

The duck halted its rush, dashing back, and hopping nervously, wings held in front of it protectively. _DEF 700._

"Fine then- Cyber-Tech Alligator! You're up!"

"Again, denied! I activate the trap Card Shadow Spell and equip it to that thing! Which means your monster loses 700 ATK, loses the ability to attack, and can't change battle positions."

He grimaced. "I end my turn."

I drew, and smiled. _Huh, thought both versions of Blue Eyes were replaced with lightning boy. Guess it's appropriate though- Jack always did love this card, so it's a little something to remember him by now. _"First, I activate the spell card Tribute to the Doomed, which lets me destroy one monster on the field by discarding a card from my hand."

I sent the monster I'd just drawn to the grave, and watched Cyber Tech disappear. "Then, I activate the spell card Shield Crush- which lets me destroy a defense position monster you control- roast duck anyone?"

He unconsciously took a step back, seeing his field completely open.

"And for the coup de grace- I activate the spell card Premature Burial! At the cost of 800 life points, I can bring back the monster I just discarded to the grave." It popped back out, into my hand. "Take to the field!- Super Conductor Tyranno!"

In a bolt of lighting, the creature appeared. It was a green and purple dinosaur loaded with sparking cybernetic implants. ATK 3300.

_Lucky for him I don't have something to boost the monster's attack any more than it is. _"Hit him directly- Atomic Surge!"

He was knocked to the ground by the electric blast, leaving him with only 500 Life Points.

"That does it for me." I said, half gesturing to my now empty hand. "Back to you."

He drew, and sighed in relief, then gave me a grin that let me know I was about to be in a not good situation. "I activate the Spell Card Soul Exchange, which- Hmm, judging by your expression you already know."

"It means you can tribute my monster instead of your own." I groaned.

"Indeed. So say goodbye to your monster, and hello to the monster you thought you could actually win from me! Phoenix Beast Guarida!" ATK 2500.

The creature appeared on the field with a loud screech, a giant mechanical bird wreathed in flames.

"Luckily for you, Soul Exchange also keeps me from conducting my battle phase this turn, so I'll end it here."

I drew somewhat nervously, and grimaced. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Fine by me." He drew. "I summon Armored Bee in attack mode!" ATK 1600. "Now, attack his face down- Piercing Sting!"

My Puppet Plant didn't even put up a fight as it was destroyed.

"Now, Phoenix, it's your turn! Attack directly with Soaring Scorch!"

The Flames around it increased in intensity as its effect kicked in to boost its attack. I groaned. "In case I forget to say this later- Oww."'

The flames knocked me to the ground, and left me with only 400 life points.

"That does it for me- back to you, assuming you can even make a move at all."

I drew, and sighed. "I activate Pot of Greed, to draw-"

"I know what it does."

I shrugged sheepishly as I drew my two cards. "I set a monster in defense mode, and one card on the back row."

He drew, but hardly looked at it. "Armored bee, wipe out his face down!"

"Poor decision! Blast Sphere- prime!" The card flipped up as the stinger approached, and what was revealed was a red five clawed orb, which rocketed into the air and clamped around the insect's mid section.

"What the-"

"The monster your bee attacked was Blast Sphere! And when it's face down and attacked, before damage calculation, it equips itself to the monster that attacked it. And during your next standby phase- well, it's a bomb, take a guess."

"It explodes."

"And does damage to your life points equal to those of the equipped monster."

"Good plan- except you forgot I've got another monster to attack with! Phoenix Beast Gaurida! Attack!"

"I've still got one more facedown card! Negate Attack! Meaning the attack is canceled, and your battle phase is ended."

The monster's flames halted as they were sucked into a swirling vortex.

"Fine then. Since I've yet to summon, I'll deal with your blast sphere by tributing my Armored Bee and summoning The Tricky in attack mode." ATK 2000.

"...You could've just discarded a card to summon that, and then you would've had another 2000 ATK points to send at me."

"I didn't look at the card when I drew it, alright?"

"Uh huh." I put my hand on my deck, and froze. I didn't know how, but I somehow knew without a shadow of a doubt what the card was. Looking at his monsters and hoping I wasn't just going insane, I drew and set the card on my disc in one move. "I summon Reflect Bounder in attack mode!" ATK 1700.

"Lucky draw." He commented. "That it for you?"

I nodded.

He drew, and looked at his new card, then his hand. "Well, since I'm not dumb enough to attack that thing, I'll end my turn as is."

I drew, and smiled. _Looks like you've saved my bacon yet again old pal. _"Reflect Bounder- attack Phoenix Beast Gairuda!"

Light charged up in his mirror as flames appeared around the giant bird.

"Did you forget your own monster's effect? It won't work when _he _attacks!"

"It's not just his effect I'm counting on, it's the effect of the spell card I just drew! The quick play spell Shrink! Which means until the end phase, the attack of your Phoenix is cut in half!"

The flames around the creature faded from an inferno into that of a candle as RB's beam of light hit it, wiping it out of existence, and leaving my opponent with only 50 Life Points.

"That does it for me."

He drew his card, and I saw his hand shaking slightly. "I summon Grey Wing in defense mode." DEF 700. "Then I switch The Tricky to defense mode as well to end my turn." DEF 1200.

I drew, and smiled. "Alright, time to finish things off. I activate the spell card Stop Defense. Which means I can force one of your monsters into attack mode! So say goodbye to Gray Wing!"

It flapped its wings and rose into the air again. ATK 1300

"Time to finish this! Reflect Bounder! Reflection of Doom!"

Light shot from his mirror, blasting straight through the dragon and knocking my opponent to the ground again.

"Too bad you're not wearing red- the blood would've blended in better." I quipped as I walked over to him.

He glared at me as he got back to his feet. "You got a lucky shot in."

"Which shot do you mean? Because I got in _several_ good shots."

He grimaced as he took his Pheonix out of his graveyard and looked at it for a moment. "You know, I think Tyranno was more rare than Jinzo." He held it out to me- "Deal's a deal though."

"Don't mind if I do." I said, taking it.

"That being said, I fully intend to take it back from you in a rematch at some point."

"...Uh huh."

He walked off towards another part of the ship- towards a group of Slifers looking out to the ocean.

_Well, so much for taking him down a peg….least I got a new card out of it. _I shrugged, slipping it into my deck. As I grabbed the other cards from my disc and put them in, I...felt something from one of them. I glanced up at my opponent who was already dueling again, and made a quick retreat back to my cabin.

I closed my eyes as I got in, and took out my deck, flipping through it until I got the same feeling I had before.

I opened my eyes, and Reflect Bounder was in my hand, glowing.

"...I'm not entirely sure that I wasn't expecting this."

The card's glow faded, and all of a sudden, the monster was floating directly in front of me. It surprised me enough that I stumbled back onto the bed, banging my head against the wall.

For a moment, we simply stared at each other- or at least I thought that was what he was doing, since his 'face' didn't seem to have different expressions.

"...I thought you'd be taller in person."

On the central mirror, my face looked back at me, and the reflection rolled its eyes.

"So, you use that to talk?" I pointed at it.

The mirror changed to a gold star, then air quotes.

"I'm going to take that a yes." I shrugged. "Better than Winged Kuriboh's twittering or the Ojama's super highpitched voices."

The mirror changed back to a very insulted looking reflection of myself.

"Hey, I could've said 'why you and not Amazoness Swordswoman'. OWW!" I clutched at my foot. "Was that a F***ing laser? Did you just F***ing shoot my foot with a motherf***ing laser?"

The reflection was now laughing at me.

"Did you actually have something important to tell me or did you just want to cause me pain?"

The creature simply faded away.

"Thanks." I snarked, rubbing my foot. "So, I'm stuck in a place that oughta be fictional, everyone thinks my last name is Fenix- and it just occurred to me all the cracks I'll probably get now from the new card- I've got a possibly nutso spirit partner who likes to laser my foot, I still can't think of a good opening line, and now I'm talking to myself aloud and sound like I'm bloody insane."


	4. Game on- HEROes vs Gods!

_Man, this thing looks even worse than it did in the show. _I thought as I looked at the Slifer "dorm". _So, they said my room is- okay, at least it doesn't look like I'm bunking with Jaden. _I looked for the number, and opened the door that was there with the key I'd been given. _Looks like I'm actually going solo...okay, now what? _

I turned back to the door, and Reflect Bounder was directly in my face. "Oh, it's you. Come to apologize for blasting me in the foot?"

Light glinted warning off his mirror, as if he was more than contemplating doing it again.

I crossed my arms in response. "Look, if you don't like me you ain't the only one. You're my favorite card, or at least one of three favorites, but so far this arrangement ain't exactly making me happy either. "

I cut off as his mirror shifted and revolved into an image of two slifers approaching the dorm.

"My god, his hair does look like Kuriboh." I said as I saw Jaden approaching.

The image that appeared next was RB, then Jaden's Flame Wingman.

"You're saying I should go out and duel him?"

I nodded in the mirror.

"Why? I mean, in the show people dueled for no real reason sometimes, but this is...is this real life? How does that work?"

The next image was what appeared to be stickfigure images of Jaden and I, both lifting dumbbells.

"... To test my strength against him?"

Another headnod in the mirror.

"Man, bet you're really good at pictionary."

A facepalm.

"Okay, so you want me to test my strength against him...aside from making this whole thing seem more animesque 'card games are serious business' than normal-" I chuckled. "I'm pretty sure I can beat Jaden."

He showed me an image of Paradox and Yugi from the movie.

"That's different. And it's not really from the future so much as...okay, that has something to do with it, but not all that much."

A glare.

"Alright, fine, I'll go down...but just for the record, I'm opposed to this, and if he beats me by sheer luck I'm going to be seriously ticked off."

He faded away in response, and I grumbled as I grabbed my duel disk and decks and headed out front.

Jaden glanced over at me as I approached.

_ Well, at least I don't have to think up much excuse for wanting to duel him- odds are he'll challenge me first._

"Hey there fellow Slifer Red!"

_Or I might just murder him. Seriously, Yusei was a badass, Yami even more so. Why couldn't I have gotten one of them?! I mean, not everyone in 5ds was a Turbo dueler...then again synchros tended to kick my ass, but...damnit, I can't believe this is actually probably the best option._

I settled on a snort. "Yeah, I wonder if it's coincidence Crowler stuck us both in here."  
"Huh?"

"You're Jaden, right? Elemental HERO guy, beat Crowler?"  
"That's me." He confirmed. "And you are…?"

"Mark. Mark Fenix." I chuckled. "The non-elemental HERO guy that beat Crowler."

"You're the guy with that giant Deadroute thing?" Syrus asked, eyes widening slightly.

_Also, seriously, what's up with his hair? Does he just spend a fortune on blue hair gel or something?_

"Dreadroot. And yes, that was me." I nodded. "Crowler never heard of the card, so he decided to make me duel again to prove I could win without a 'suspect' card. Hence half the reason he stuck us both here."

"Because this is the dorm for the best?"

I facepalmed at Jaden's comment.

"I doubt that's why Jaden. If it were, I wouldn't be here." Syrus angsted.

I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to strangle them both, resting my hand over my eyes again. "Look, you know this academy was founded by Seto Kaiba, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Well, when he had the ranking established, he put Obelisk at the top because he briefly had that card during the Battle City Tournament. But since the first of the three god cards Yugi had was Slifer, and Kaiba ain't exactly his biggest fan, he put Red right at the bottom...and then you know, he put Ra in the middle cause rule of three."

"Man, this view is amazing."

"...Did you hear a single word I just said?" I asked in disbelief as I looked over and saw Jaden had wandered to the edge of the cliff nearby.

"So, if you both beat Crowler, why are you here? Isn't he supposed to be a good duelist?"

I shrugged. "Could be he tweaked the scores to get us both here. Or it was a matter of the written exams."

Jaden turned back towards me. "So, if we both beat Crowler-"

"How's about a duel to see who's better?" I guessed.

"Actually, I was going to say we ought to be friends, but I like your idea too."

_Oh dear lord, just strike me down now._

He pulled his duel disk out of his backpack, and slid it onto his arm. I reached for my decks, then stopped, thinking about which one would work better, but unable to decide. I shrugged and took the quarter I'd found earlier out of my pocket, flipping it in the air. _Heads, Wicked Defense, Tails, Endless Assault._

I slammed it down on the back of my hand, and when I pulled my other hand away I saw George looking back at me.

_Works for me. _I thought, sliding the former deck in and activating my disk.

_ But something just occured to me- if they don't explore so Jaden doesn't meet Chazz...well first off they oughta thank me, second what happens from there?_

_ Damnit RB, if you make me change the timeline and screw everything over...unless that's what you want to do, like I have to take on Jaden's role and basically become a marysue to get home…_

After a moment, I realized it was unlike he'd appear, since Jaden would be able to see him. _Wonder if I'd be able to see Winged Kuriboh then? _I mused as Jaden took position across from me.

"Alright Mark, get ready to get your game on."

"My game's always on." I responded, somewhat annoyed. "So I'll start us off." I drew my six cards and considered them a moment.

"I set a monster in defense mode, and play another card on the backrow. Back to you."

He drew, and I saw a smile appear on his face.

_Ten bucks says he's about to- _"I activate Polymerization!" _Yeah, that he's about to do that._

"I fuse Elemental HERO Burstinatrix with Elemental HERO Avian." Both the green feathered hero and the red clad female heroin flew into the air, and swirled around. "So come on out, Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!"

The monster that appeared had a single wing on the left side, a dragon's head for a right hand along with a dragon's tail, and was otherwise green. ATK 2100.

"Flame Wingman, attack his facedown card!"

"Tsk, not a very wise decision Jaden." I chided as the card flipped up.

The creature was actually kinda cute, a penguin holding a sword; it became slightly less cute as it was set on fire. "Thanks to my Penguin Soldier's effect, I can return your Flame Wingman to the ex- to the fusion deck." I corrected myself with the time-accurate term.

"In that case, I'll throw down a facedown and end my turn."

I drew a card, and my eyes widened slightly. _Well, that could be really good, or seriously bad F***ing news. _

I looked at the card, then Jaden, then the card again. _The Seal of Orichalcos- one card I always kinda wanted in my decks, since it worked in my DN decks._

It was a field spell with several effects. First, every monster the owner controlled gained 500 ATK. Secondly, once per turn, it couldn't be destroyed by card effects. If the owner had two or more monsters out in attack position, the weakest couldn't be attacked. The other effect that mattered to me was that it would destroy any special summoned monster I controlled when I activated it. _And since I don't have an extra deck/fusion deck, the effect that keeps me from using those doesn't matter._

_ Normally I'd have no problem about using this, but since in the show anyone who dueled while it was out risked their souls...if I was sure I could beat Jaden I might use it, but I'm not risking my own soul until I know for sure what'll happen should I use it._

I set it in my hand, hoping I wouldn't need it. "Alright, I'll summon Double Coston to the field!" ATK 1700.

The creature- or maybe creatures- looked like two ghosts attached by their tails, chasing each other around in a circle.

"Now, I'll have them attack directly."

"Not so fast! I activate a trap- Negate Attack."

I suspected as much, and shrugged. "In that case, I'll end my turn."

He drew. "Sweet! I activate Fusion Recovery, which lets me retrieve Polymerization and Elemental Hero Avian from my graveyard!"

Both cards slid out of the grave into his waiting hand. "Then, I'll activate Polymerization again, but for a different monster this time! I fuse Sparkman and Clayman from my hand!"

Again, both the sparkling armored hero and the rocky monster swirled together overhead. "So come on out, Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" ATK 2400.

The monster that appeared was a huge yellow clad warrior, lightning sparking around him. "And thanks to his effect, once per turn I can discard a card from my hand to destroy a monster you control whose original attack is weaker than his."

_Uh...what._

"So I'll discard Avian from my hand to wipe out your Double Coston!"

Lightning destroyed my creature as I tried to process this. _In the show, Thunder Giant's effect only worked when he was first summoned, and it didn't take a discard to use it...I have no idea what that'll mean then._

"And now, since that was his effect and not an attack-"

"I play my facedown card- Metal Reflect Slime!" The trap card popped out of the back of my deck, and I caught it on the air, slamming it down on the top of the disc. "And thanks to its effect, I can now summon it as a monster!"

The creature that appeared was a mass of metal, which looked like a mace with arms. DEF 3000. "So, you were saying something about an attack?"

"Heh, sweet move. I guess I'll call it a turn then."

I drew, calculating what to do now. _He can discard a card and have Thunder Giant wipe out my trap monster, then attack. Need something to stop that thing. _I looked at the card I'd just drawn.

_Well, that oughta do the trick. _"I summon Chainsaw Insect!" ATK 2400.

What looked like an insect with mandibles appeared on my side of the field. "Chainsaw Insect, attack thunder giant! Sawblade bite!"

The monster skittered forward, and lightning appeared around Jaden's monster as it ran at mine. The mandibles closed around his and caused it to explode an instant before a bolt of lightning destroyed mine.

"Nice, since they had the same attack-"

"They were both destroyed, yes." I finished for him. "Thanks to Chainsaw's effect though, you draw a card now." I looked at my trap monster, and then at my hand. "I play one card face down and end my turn."

"Alright, then it's back to me." He drew, and I saw him looking at his hand. "I summon Hero Kid in defense mode." DEF 600.

The kid that appeared somewhat reminded me of a cross between Megaman and Iron Man for some reason, with a bubble helmet and white and red color scheme.

"Then I'll throw down a face down and it's back to you."  
I drew, and smiled. "This'll work. I tribute my Metal Reflect Slime to summon a Hero of my own- Heroic Challenger Warhammer!" ATK 2100.

The blue armored warrior hefted his weapon as he looked at Jaden's monster. "I'm going to feel guilty about this later, but oh well. Warhammer! Wipe out Hero kid!"

"I don't think so- I play a trap! Hero Ring!"

I swore under my breath.

"Thanks to its effect, I can equip it to a warrior monster I control with 1500 or less ATK, and then you can't attack it!"

"I'll end my turn then." I said, crossing my arms.

He drew a card, and I saw a smile on his face, which worried me a bit. "I activate Miracle Fusion!"

_Oh you've got to be kidding me. _

"So I'll use it to banish Avian and Burstinatrix and bring back Flame Wingman!" ATK 2100.

"Not bad, but you forget that Wingman's effect only works if he's still on the field. A tie between them like there is now would just cause them both to be destroyed."

"You're right, but who said I was planning on a tie."

_If he plays just the right card right now-  
_"I activate H-Heated Heart, which raises Wingman's ATK by 500 until the end of this turn! So now I'll have him attack."

_Yeah, figures. Luckily, he's not the only one with a card to raise ATK. Cept mine does more than just that. _"I activate Kunai with Chain! Not only does it give War Hammer a 500 point boost to his ATK, it also forces your monster into defense mode, which'll stop your attack."

The flames halted as his monster crouched down, DEF 1200.

"Then I'll have to call that a turn I guess."  
"Indeed." I drew, and glanced at the card in annoyance. _Dangit Dreadroot, where were you earlier when I had Coston out and Slime ready so I could summon you my next turn?_

_ Well, I've still got another monster on the field. _"War Hammer, wipe out Flame Wingman! Heroic Hammer Smash!"

My warrior jumped in the air and brought the hammer down hard on wingman. "Now, I'll use War Hammer's effect! Since I destroyed Flame Wingman by Battle, I can equip it to my monster, and he gains ATK equal to Wingman's. Which means that combined with Kunai with Chain, he's got a grand total of 4600 ATK!"

Jaden actually looked pretty calm as he set a hand on his deck. "That it for your turn?"

"Pretty much, yeah."  
He drew, and he looked at his solitary card a moment. "I'll throw this on the back row and end my turn."

_He oughta be starting to run out of monsters by now- but with that trap protecting his Hero Kid, I can't attack it and get through to his lifepoints. _

I looked at my new card, and thought carefully about what I was about to do. _Don't like it, but it's the best move I can make right now. _"I'll tribute War Hammer to bring out Jinzo!" ATK 2400.

My warhammer disappeared, and the ugly cybernetic creature appeared to replace him. It looked like Freddy Kruger wearing a gasmask in green and yellow armor. "And thanks to Jinzo, your trap card's effect is negated, so he's free to wipe out Hero Kid! Jinzo, attack with Cyber Energy Shock!"

The orb of energy that came from his hands destroyed the monster. "That does it for this turn, back to you."

He drew, and I suddenly heard something. A moment later, a winged fluffball appeared around his head, and started gesturing rapidly at me.

I had to work to pretend I didn't notice.

"Alright, buddy, if you say so. I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" DEF 200. "That's all for me."

I drew, and my eyes widened slightly as I saw the card. _Maybe Dreadroot showed up at the right time after all. _"I set a monster in defense mode. Then, I'll have Jinzo wipe out your monster."

I felt a little guilty as he destroyed Jaden's spirit partner, but not overly so. "Hope your next card's a good one."

He drew, and immediately put it in his disk. "I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Winged Kuriboh."

"That's only stalling the inevitable." I commented, drawing a card, and glancing at it. "Ooo, this is kinda ironic...I think." I shrugged. "First, I flip summon my facedown card- Cobra Jar. And thanks to its effect, I can also bring out a Poisonous Snake Token." ATK 600 and 1200 respectively. "Next, I activate the spell card Soul Exchange! Which means I can use your Kuriboh as a tribute instead of Jinzo. So say goodbye to him, as well as my two reptiles." I felt a shiver go down my spine in anticipation.

"With these three tributes- Rise up! Wicked Dreadroot!" ATK 4000.

Huge hands crushed all three monsters as my creature pulled itself from the earth, towering above the field. "Of course, because I used Soul Exchange I can't attack, but since your Winged Kuriboh would've negated any battle damage anyway, it's a fair trade."

He drew another card, and got a look of faint worry on his face. "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in defense mode." DEF 1200.

I drew another card, but I didn't even look at it. "Not that this wasn't fun and all, but I think it's time to end this. Jinzo, take out...okay, I gotta wonder who the heck would name a card that's supposed to be a superhero 'bubble man.' Anyway, feel free to take it down."

The monster was destroyed like that, leaving Jaden wide open.

"Let's see, you've got 4000 life points, Dreadroot has 4000 attack points- Yeah, not looking good for you. Dreadroot, attack him directly and finish this."

Dreadroot's fist caught him in the gut, knocking him on his back as his life points hit zero. The holograms faded as I walked over, reaching a hand down to help him up. He took it and used me as support to get back to his feet.

"Man, that guy packs a punch."

"Yeah, that's one way to describe it." I chuckled, sliding the deck back onto my hip and shutting down the disc.

"Up for a rematch?"

"Maybe another time. I still gotta finish unpacking." I lied.

"Yeah, guess we better do that too. Interested in checking out the rest of the academy later?"

"We'll see." I said noncommittally as I walked away.

I was not all that surprised to see RB waiting for me in the room. "So, what exactly did that prove?"

His response was an image of that friendship symbol from the first episode of the original series.

"Oh come on, you don't really see me becoming friends with him, do you?"

The image changed to something else- an apparently a change of subject as well. It was an image of me at my desk, holding his card and slowly passing out. It went black and showed the image of me with a duel disk, dueling to get here.

"Don't suppose you can shed some light on what happened in between?"

He shook his actual head this time rather than using his mirror to show me images.

"So do you know how I can figure it out, or more importantly figure out how to get back?"

He showed an image of multiple books, and then himself.

"Uh...you're researching it to figure it out?"

A green A+.

"Ideas in the meantime?"

He showed Jaden and Syrus preparing to leave the dorm room and apparently walk around the island. A crude stick figure image of me followed them.

"I meant good ideas."

The stick figure was struck by lightning and the mirror went blank.

"Alright, since I've got nothing better to do and I might get to kick someone else's ass in a duel, I'll do it. But if this turns out to be a waste of my time, I'm finding a library just so I can use you as a book mark, so- OWW! Again with the F***ing laser in the foot?"


	5. Midnight Duel- Menace of the Dragons!

_Ok, forget Bookmark. If nothing happens worth staying for, I'm going to make coffee just so I can use you as a coaster._

Jaden and Syrus didn't even notice the fact that the building we were in had a blue roof. Or else they noticed it and didn't realize what it meant. Or else they just didn't care.

_Well, maybe someone here will be dumb enough to duel us. I'd love another good match. Or should I say, easy match._

Reflect Bounder showed up in front of me with arms crossed, and he didn't even need the mirror to glare.

He projected an image of Kaiba smiling, then getting hit by Exodia.

_Alright, alright, yeah, good point. I don't need to get a swelled head._

He seemed to realize I'd gotten the message since he disappeared again.

_I'm just saying, I do have cards these guys haven't even heard of because they don't exist yet. Not to mention three wicked gods and a pair of monsters that could stand up to Blue Eyes. _

He glowed in my deck holster warningly.

_Geez, excuse me for being optimistic._

I'd been following the other two on autopilot and nearly knocked Syrus over now that he was standing still.

"Watch it will ya?" he turned, comically angry.

"Sorry, my bad." I said, looking past him to see where we were. _A duel arena? Well, I guess it's fancier to them than to me. I was perfectly happy dueling on a boat. Still better than just dueling across a table or with a laptop, considering the hi-def holograms that come along with the deal._

"What're you Slifer Slackers doing here?"

_Plus, I didn't have to deal with stuck up block heads like these. _I thought, turning to face the two obelisks that were already in here.

"This arena is for Obelisks only!"

I crossed my arms and gave them my best "do I look like I care?" expression.

"See that crest?" One of them said pointing. I didn't bother looking, knowing that they'd explain what it was any second.

"This here is our turf. You Slifer rejects aren't welcome here."

I smiled. "Oh, sure, I understand. I don't blame you actually. I'd be scared to duel me too."

"What'd you just say?" One of them said, taking a few steps closer and bunching up his fists.

I didn't even flinch at the display. "You talk a lot of talk. But I think it's only talk. Care to try proving me wrong?"

"Didn't you hear? This arena's for Obelisks. Get lost." He said, trying to save face.

Syrus tugged on my sleeve. "We were just leaving, right guys? I mean, if we're not supposed to be here, then I guess we have to go."

_For once Jaden, I think you'd say it better than me._

"Nah, we don't have to leave. Not if one of you duels us!"

They looked between us, and slow as they were, they seemed to recognize us. _Or maybe they're staring at Jaden's hair. I would understand either one._

"Hey, aren't you the guys that beat Crowler?" One of them asked.

"I see our reputation precedes us." _Once you morons actually put two and two together. So it's like a delayed reputation or something. Close enough._

"Hey Chazz, those guys that beat Crowler are in here!" One of them yelled to the bleachers.

_Seriously, is there not a single person at this school with normal hair? _I thought as he stood up.

"These two? The tall one I can believe, but-"

"He meant the 'tall one' and me." I cut him off, stepping in front of Syrus, and barely holding off the urge to throw something at his head. I had to cross my arms instead so they didn't do something on their own that I'd regret.

"Right, the guy that needs a...what was it? Wicked Dreadroot?"

"Finally someone gets the name correct." I commented. "And I used that only in the first duel. When I went against Crowler I didn't have any of the Wicked Gods in my deck."

"Wicked God_s?_ Plural?" Chazz asked.

"One for each of the Egyptian gods- though they aren't quite as powerful as their counterparts, just made to...neutralize an advantage for each of them, or possess a counterpart to their advantage." I smirked, uncrossing my arm so I could pat the deck. "Not that I'd tell what those powers are outside a duel."

"Well, we're in a duel arena aren't we?" He said, walking down the bleachers. "And-"

"Wait, let me guess. Something about only beating Crowler solely by dumb luck or an OP card, blah blah, don't even deserved to be in slifer blah blah 'I sound like a complete ass'."

I saw veins popping on his forehead.

"But if you're willing to try proving it was mere luck, I'd be happy to prove you wrong."

He took out his own deck, holding it up. "Is that so?"

I took out my Assault Deck, deciding this guy needed a beatdown, and slid it in my disk. "You can talk till your face is as blue as the coat, or you can put your cards where your mouth is...I have no idea if that actually made any sense when said aloud."

He slipped his own deck in his disk, and we both activated them. "Since you're challenging me, I'll let you get the first move." I said to him.

"Fine by me." He said, drawing. "I'll summon Chthonian Soldier in attack mode." ATK 1200. "Then I'll play a card face down and end my turn."

I went to draw my card, and stopped as I...sensed someone approaching. I glanced to the side and had to keep my face neutral. _The hell? How'd I know- I didn't hear her or...must've just caught her in my peripheral vision. _

"Well, this is a motley crew." Alexis said, crossing her arms. "Had to stoop to dueling the new students Chazz?"

"This 'new student' happened to be one of the two that beat Crowler." I said tersely.

"Hey Alexis. Come to see me wipe the floor with him?" Chazz grinned cockily, and I looked at my hand for the first time, hoping I had something that'd really hurt him if I attacked…_Oh, this next turn is going to hurt plenty. _

"I'm here to remind you about the Obelisk welcome dinner that you're late to."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"Don't worry-" I caught both their attentions. "This duel isn't going to last much longer."

She gave me a skeptical look.

"Yeah yeah, don't get cocky or you'll wind up defeated horribly, I know." I shrugged. "That said, are you done Chazz?"

"Yep. So go ahead and make your move."

"With pleasure." I said, drawing, and smiling at the card as I added it to my hand, grabbing another. "Well, first off I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to get that backrow card out of the way."

A storm blew away his card, which I saw was Magic Cylinder. _Lucky I got that card then. _

"Next, I activate another Spell Card- Double summon, which means I get an extra normal summon this turn." I grabbed the two monsters. "And I'm bringing out two of my favorites- Amazoness Swordswoman and Reflect Bounder!" ATK 1500 and 1700 respectively.

The sword wielding warrior and machine appeared side by the side on the field.

"Of course, I'm well aware that your monster's effect would send some battle damage my way." I showed him a card from my hand, and I saw him take a step back at the sight of the Spell Card Fissure- which would let me destroy his card. I returned it to the hand. "But since you're late for something and these two don't have quite enough power to finish you on their own-" I grabbed the card I'd drawn at the beginning of this turn. "I activate the effect of my Puppet Plant! Which means by discarding it from my hand, I can take control of a warrior or spellcaster my opponent controls- I think you see where this is going."

His face paled as roots sprouted from the ground, dragging his monster over.

"Now for the fun part where I attack you- ladies first. Amazoness Slash!" Her sword took him in the gut, making him double over

"Now, your own monster-Chthonian Fire Stab!" The fiery sword knocked him to the ground, and I chuckled as he got back up.

"And I've saved the (debateably) best for last- RB, hit him with Reflection of Doom!"

Light charged up in his mirror, focused into a laser that knocked Chazz right back down.

"Now, if I've done the math right, 1200 plus 1500 plus 1700 is a total of 4400, and since you had 4000 life points...Yeah, I win you lose." I laughed as the holograms faded. "Man, been a while since I actually managed to pull of an OTK, let alone an FTK."

"What and what?" He demanded as he got back up.

"One-Turn-Kill or First-Turn-Kill." I clarified, sliding my deck back in my pocket and tossing his card back to him- how I'd gotten it I had no idea. "I suppose you could say this deck is almost made for them." _Considering we have half the life points here that we did in the real world...wouldn't much mind if something happened to change that, just so I've got some challenge...having said that I'm sure it'll come back to bite me in the ass at some point._

"Is that the deck that beat Crowler?" Alexis asked.

_Is it creepy that I know her name without- no wait, Chazz said it so I'm technically good...yes, it's still a tiny bit creepy. _"Yep-my 'Brutal Assault' deck. Basic strategy boils down to 'attack attack attack'." I chuckled.

"You just got a lucky hand." Chazz grumbled.

"Or you got an unlucky one." I shrugged. "Been plenty of times I've done 3000 damage or more on the first turn though, so it ain't all luck. Tested this deck in more duels than I can think of, tweaked it, and now...well, it speaks for itself."

"Not that it needs to with you being such an apparent loudmouth." She responded, clearly not impressed.

I shrugged. "Guilty as charged. Come on you two- if dinner's waiting-" I turned to them, and blinked. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone move that fast." I said to myself as I looked at the empty space they'd previously occupied, and rushed after them.I sat at a table, looking somewhat distastefully at the meager amount of food in front of me.

_Yeah, first chance I get I'm going Ra._

Still, compared to having had to cut weight for wrestling, it was practically a feast.

_Although judging by the complaints from everyone else, they don't feel the same way._

"This is our fancy welcome dinner?" One of them said in outrage.

I rolled my eyes. _If you're not going to eat it, then leave so I can enjoy in peace. I want to take another look at my decks, make sure nothing else is different about them._

"Forget that! Check out our headmaster!" someone said, pointing to a cat sitting at the front of the room.

_Wow, can't imagine why that guy's in Slifer. He's clearly a mental giant. NOT._

A curtain was brushed aside to reveal the true headmaster, an Asian man with glasses that almost complete hid his eyes.

"Hello children. My name is Professor Banner."

I bristled slightly at this. _Children?_

RB glowed in my duel disk.

_Nobody asked you._

"Now, before we eat, I'd like each of you to tell us something about your-"

He cut off and I immediately knew the reason why.

"Man, this stuff is good." Jaden said, stuffing his face.

_I knew I was going to regret not sitting somewhere else- _I thought, glancing to my right to look at him.

"Jaden, we're supposed to tell something about ourselves first." Syrus admonished him.

I chuckled. "In a way, he sorta just did."

"He's walking over here Jaden." Syrus said. "I'm serious."

"Yeah, in fact he'll be here right about… now."

Jaden looked up nervously.

"Well, since some of us don't feel like waiting…"

Jaden looked even more nervous.

"Let's just eat."

I shrugged and did just that.

**Line Break**

"Huh, no roommate still?" I commented as I walked into my dorm room, tossing my disk to the side.

_Well, at least aside from having to deal with Jaden, this hasn't been so bad. _RB immediately appeared in front of me, making wonder why I'd said that and jinxed myself.

"Okay, now what?"

I saw an image of Flame Wingman vs Chazz's monster, followed by that of Jaden and Syrus sneaking out of the dorm.

"If you think I'm going after them to watch a duel that'd get interrupted anyway...I was serious about that bookmark thing."

I nodded in the mirror, then went with the two, a dunce cap on my head.

"...Okay, so then what do you-"

The image changed to the guy I'd beaten on the boat, knocking a kid to the ground and taking his deck, rifling through it before taking several cards.

"...I'm hoping you want me to go kick his ass a second time." I said, patting my deck. "Preferably with Dreadroot and or Avatar."

He nodded, and faded.

"...Does that mirror have a GPS by chance?"

He reappeared, and simply floated through the door. I grabbed my disk and ran after him. He slowed down to a 'walk' as I got closer, and he kept floating in the air, guiding me towards that moron.

"Ten victims just tonight," I heard him speak as I got close enough to see him standing over a defeated Ra student. "Isn't there anyone here that can beat me?"

"There's one person here who already did." I growled loud enough for him to hear as he turned to face me.

I'd already recognized his voice, and as he took in my appearance, he seemed to recognize me. "Right, you're that runt that beat me on the boat and took that Pheonix card."

"First off- Runt? Seriously? Secondly, I'm also the guy who's going to stop you from taking these guys' cards." _Granted, I have no idea how to do that...do I just like steal his disk and deck after this if I win?_

"Cards? You think that was all I was taking?" He smiled in a way that I could only describe as nuts. "The losers went in the water too- why do you think we're on a cliff?"

_...You could've mentioned that before RB. _"Then I guess we know the terms- you win, throw me off." _Except I'm not a moron like everyone else around here, so I'd just shove him off if that happened. _"And if I win, you're going over, sans disc and cards."

"Fine by me." He grinned, and held up his arm. For the first time I saw it wasn't an academy disk- the section underneath the deck holder was too small, and the color was off too- like a dark blue-green. "And just since you beat me, I'll give you fair notice- you won't be dealing with that pathetic wind deck I took from someone else. You get the full brunt of my own personal deck." He held it up.

_Personal deck...from what I've seen of him, it's going to be powerful, and I'll need all the power I can get to beat it. But my assault deck needs to be almost constantly attacking- I need my other deck. It's got more defensive power...and three cards I'd love to introduce him to. _"Then you get my best deck as well." I said, taking it out, and looking through it to find one particular card, that I held up. "Let's see if the Phoenix Beast Garuda I took from you is a good luck charm or not."

"You'll need all the luck you can get." He responded, setting his deck in his disk.

I shuffled mine quickly before setting it in mine, making him sneer.

"You want me to shuffle my deck too?"

"Since I don't trust you at all, yeah."

He hit a button on the disk, and his cards were suddenly whirring in and out of the disk, shifting positions with each other. "Cutting edge tech that is."

_Or tech from the future- that's exactly like the disks in 5Ds were...and his disk looks familiar in another way too…_

"Time to cut you down!" He roared, as his disk sprang into life. The front of it swung forward at a ninety degree angle, and five sections sprang out, slicing through the air, before a sharp point at the end clicked into place.

_And now he's got same Dark Disc that Dartz's guys had? What's up with that? _I triggered my own standard disc. "I'll take the first move." I said before he could, and I looked at my six cards a moment.

"I set one monster in defense mode, and two cards on the back row. Back to you." He drew, and looked at his new card for a moment with a smile. "First, I normal summon The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave in Attack mode!" ATK 1300.

A large lazy looking green dragon appeared on the field. _No way he'd summon a weak monster like that unless he's planning to bring out something a lot stronger. _

"Then, I Banish that card to bring out my ace- Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!" ATK 2800.

The monster that appeared looked like an upgraded version of Joey's famous monster- But it was made of shiny black metal, with red highlights augmenting its obviously greater power.

He glanced at his hand of four. "Luckily for you, none of these is a dragon, so I can't use my monster's effect to special summon one. For now, I'll end my turn."

I drew, and glanced at my face down cards. _He didn't attack- must be waiting for Mirage Dragon or something to make sure I don't have traps waiting for him. Not that it'll do him much good- the real trap is my face down Blast Sphere. Still, since he was nice enough to not have any traps of his own-_

"I summon my Amazoness Swordswoman in attack mode!" ATK 1500. "Sorry about this, but I've got to wear his life points down somehow." I muttered. "Attack his Red Eyes! Amazoness Slash!"

"I don't know what you're thinking, but fine by me! Counter Attack with Darkness Metal Flare!"

I winced slightly as she was destroyed by the burst of fire, but managed to point at him with a smug smirk. "I was thinking about her effect! An effect that means you take the battle damage instead of me!"

He growled as his life points dropped to 2700.

"I end my turn."

He drew furiously, though his mood got better as he saw the card. "I use the effect of Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon to special summon a dragon from my hand! Come to the field- Armed Dragon Lvl 5!" ATK 2400

The massive fat red and black monster appeared on his side of the field with a loud roar. "I end my turn with that."

I furrowed my brow as I drew. _I've got the advantage of life points, sure, but he's got two powerful monsters out, yet he's not attacking...he's either cautious of my facedowns, or just cowardly…but if he doesn't attack while I've got face downs, I can risk doing this! _"I summon Double Coston in attack mode!" ATK 1700. "Now I'll have it attack your Armed Dragon! Go, Double Spin Slam!"

"What's that going to do for you? My monster is- F***, you have Rush Recklessly or something in your hand, don't you?!"

"Nope- Ego Boost, face down on the field! Which boosts my creatures' attack by 1000 until the end of this turn!"

He threw his hands up in front of his face as the ghostly creatures buzzsawed right through his monster, knocking him down to 2000.

"I set one more card face down and end my turn." I said calmly, though I was really wondering how good this guy was. _He's waiting for...something. He's got to be- otherwise why would he keep refusing to attack? And I've already got him down to half his life points too._

He drew, and smiled. "First, I play the effect of my Red Eyes! Which means I bring Armed Dragon back to the field!"

_Yeah, I figured he'd do that. Luckily, even if he takes down Double Coston, I can use my face down Call of the Haunted to bring it back later to help bring out a wicked god._

"Now, I tribute both of them."

"What?!" _When someone tributes a monster as strong as Red Eyes Darkness Metal, it's never a good sign. _

"I summon forth- Photon Wyvern!" ATK 2500.

The creature looked almost more like a ghostly bird than a dragon, but its appearance still filled me with dread. "And thanks to its effect, when its Normal Summoned, it destroys all set cards you control."

Blast Sphere and Call of the Haunted both shattered. "Now, I activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Red Eyes!"

_Two monsters with that kinda power...not good at all. And I don't have Call of the Haunted now, so I can't bring back my Amazoness to stop his second attack!_

"Photon Wyvern- attack his Double Coston! Photon Burst!" I was knocked to the ground as my creature was destroyed. He waited for me to get back up before hitting me with the second. "Red eyes! Darkness Metal Flare!"

I was knocked to the ground again, and my life points dropped to a measly 400.

"I end my turn with that."

I drew with a shaking hand. _If he wanted to push me off the cliff now, I dunno that I've got enough strength left to stop him. Holograms are more painful than they...well, no, they're actually _exactly_ as painful as they look. _

I drew, and considered my new card. _It's risky, but it's all I've got- nothing else in my hand can help me out. _"I set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

He drew with a smile that showed how little he thought of my chances. "First, I play the effect of my Red Eyes to revive Armed Dragon LV 5 from my graveyard. Then, I normal summon Alexandrite Dragon in attack mode!" ATK 2000.

A small but powerful looking dragon appeared next to the others, scales glittering like gemstones.

"And now, I'll have my Armed Dragon attack your monster! Go Infernal Roar!"

I took a breath as my monster flipped up, hoping that 'heart of the cards' thing wasn't a complete load of s***. "Morphing Jar's flip effect kicks in! We each discard everything in our hand and draw five new cards!"

He shrugged as he sent his cards to the grave, while I reached for my new hand like a drowning man for air, and saw my gamble had paid off.

"Now, I'll have Alexandrite Dragon finish you off with a direct attack!"

"You'll find I'm not so easy to take down." I held up a card as the monster launched a ball of fire, and a hologram shot from my card and intercepted it almost too fast for the eye to see.

"What gives?"

"I play the ability of my Swift Scarecrow! By discarding it from my hand, I can negate your direct attack, and instantly end the battle phase as well."

He grit his teeth. "Then I move to my end phase, and use Armed Dragon LV 5's effect. Since it destroyed a monster by battle, I can tribute it and special summon Armed Dragon LV 7 from my deck to take its place." ATK 2800.

LV 5 had been somewhat chubby- this new upgraded version was a muscular powerhouse with spikes all over it.

I drew, and actually looked at my other cards this time. "First, I set a monster in defense mode." _Even if Marshmallon's flip effect didn't need it to be set, his Armed Dragon can destroy any face up monster, as long as he discards one monster with an ATK that's higher or equal to it. And with Marshmallon, even Kuriboh would work. _"Then, for some breathing room, I activate the spell card- Swords of Revealing Light!"

Three giant glowing swords buried themselves in front of his monsters, hundreds of smaller swords hovering in midair between them. "Which means-"

"I know what it does, and what it means. It's effect is that for the next three of my turns, my monsters are unable to attack. And what it means is that I've made you desperate."

_Hard to argue with that. _

"My draw!" He drew the card forcefully, and smiled. "Well, this won't destroy your swords, but it won't hurt my odds either. I tribute armed Dragon LV 7 to special summon Armed Dragon LV 10 from my hand!" ATK 3000.

The monster that appeared was almost twice as big as the last, with wings that looked like swords, and spiky black and silver armor that covered most of it.

_Won't hurt his odds maybe, but mine are another story altogether! _"Thanks for giving me a new better hand. Next, I tribute my Alexandrite Dragon to bring out Tiger Dragon!" ATK 2400.

It was hard to think of a name that would fit the new creature better, as its pattern indeed was that of a Tiger.

"Next, I use Red Eye's effect to bring Alexandrite Dragon back to the field from my grave. And since I can't attack, that does it for this turn."

I drew without looking at the card, instead looking at his field. _Red Eyes, Alexandrite, Armed LV 10, Tiger, and Photon- Even if my life points were still at 4000, he could wipe me out without almost any trouble. _One of the larger swords vanished, leaving only two, and only two turns to figure out a counter strategy. _And with his Armed Dragon LV 10, all he needs to do is discard a card to take down all monsters I have face up. Have to keep setting them for now. _I glanced down at my new card, and had to strain to keep the hope from showing on my face. _Dreadroot! Yes! If I can bring this out, it'd take down that Armed Dragon in one blow, then I could wipe out the others at my leisure! ...but I need two more tributes to do so. _"I set another monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

He drew, and smiled at his new card. "I activate Card Destruction!"

My eye twitched, and I swore so loudly I was amazed nobody came running to see what'd happened.

"Ooo, I take it you had a bad card, and that you also know what this card does."

I reluctantly tossed my hand, including My wicked god, and drew three new cards to replace it. _F***! Double Summon, and my second Double Coston! If only my third card was a different Wicked God, I could bring it out next turn! _

He meanwhile was looking at his new four cards as if he couldn't believe his eyes. "First, I activate Trade-In! I discard Dark Horus to my grave to draw two new cards from my deck." He drew, and smiled even wider. "Then, I tribute my Tiger Dragon and Alexandrite Dragon to bring out Dragonic Knight!" ATK 2800.

"Oh, what, you needed more super powerful monsters?"

He chuckled. "You're not very quick on the uptake sometimes, are you. I wasn't just bringing a monster onto the field, I also just got two more in my grave."

"...well, that's nice and cryptic." I muttered, setting a hand on my deck, and giving him a look to ask if his turn was done. He nodded, and I drew, the second sword vanishing. _One more turn- and this isn't what I need either! _ "I set another monster in defense mode and end my turn."

He drew with a smile. "Tell me, did you really expect to win this?"

"...Yeah, kinda, my record with you _is _1-0...or is it 0-1? I always forget whether your thing comes first or mine does."

He ignored my comment. "I activate- Dragon's Mirror! I remove from play Armed Dragon LV 5 and 7, Alexandrite Dragon, Tiger Dragon from my graveyard, and my new Dragonic Knight from the field! By doing so, I can bring out a Dragon type monster from my Extra Deck that would use them as fusion materials!"

_Both armed dragons, and three more...Oh no. _

"I bring forth- THE FIVE HEADED DRAGON!" ATK 5000.

The five monsters appeared over his head and rose far above his head, swirling together as they got out of sight. A beam of light appeared where they'd disappeared, and shot down, forming into one of the game's strongest creatures. It was larger than Dreadroot, each of its five heads different, and all with the same merciless look.

"I set one card face down and end my turn- which means your swords are gone, and you're wide open for your next turn. Make it count, or it'll be your last!"

_...So, in other words, draw Avatar or I'm deadmeat._

**So, every two weeks was my guess for this thing...well, it hasn't quite been a month, so...progress?**

**Hopefully chapter 6 will be out a little sooner...but don't hold your breath in the meantime. Unless you like having a purple face.**


	6. Hidden Power- Desperate Struggle

_This is not what I wanted to do when I woke up this morning! _I looked out at my opponent's field, where one of the game's strongest monsters towered, all five of its massive heads looking at me like it wanted to tear me apart.

_Not to mention Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, which he basically can summon as many dragons as he needs to with, Armed Dragon LV 10, with which he can discard a card to destroy all face up monsters I control, and Photon Wyvern which...well, its effect wouldn't help much, but it's as strong as Dark Magician so it's got enough raw power to kick my arse if needed._

I drew my card, and looked at his monster again. _Okay, I've got three cards face down, two of which can't be destroyed by battle. The trouble is, both of those cards have weak DEF, so if he has Fairy Meteor Crush, Metorian, or something else that would let his massive dragon inflict piercing damage, I'm toast. _

_I have to hold out until I can draw a Wicked God Card- nothing else could stop them. But I've only got two left, since Dreadroot got tossed via his Card Destruction._

_Marshmallon's effect would inflict 1000 damage to him though, which would leave him with 1800...which is still 1400 higher than I am right now…Well, at least this card might give me a slight edge. _"I set one card on the backrow, and end my turn."

"Fine by me." He drew his card, and frowned at it before looking at the field. "I end my turn."

_What? Why wouldn't he...He must be worried about my face down cards, not that he isn't justified in that. So he's either waiting for Mirage Dragon so he doesn't have to worry about traps, or for a Photon Wyvern so he can destroy all my set cards at once._

I drew another card, and grimaced before setting it on the field as well. "A fourth set defense monster will do it for my turn."

He drew, and smiled. "I hope you've enjoyed this duel- since it's going to be your last! I use Red-Eye's effect to special summon the Mirage Dragon from my hand and-"

"Why?"

"...Why what?"

"Why would you use Red Eye's effect instead of just normal summoning it?."

"...Uh...I had a reason, but now I forgot it...oh, in case that face down was Trap Hole or something that'd kill a normal summoned monster."

"Huh. Yeah, that actually does kinda make sense."

"As I was saying-" He put the card on the field, and the giant-foreheaded chinese dragon appeared with a roar. ATK 1600.

"So now, it's time to wipe out your defensive wall! Five Headed Dragon! Attack the one on the far left!"

I threw my arms up for protection as five streams of energy were all launched at once, completely obliterating the card. "I play Giant Rat's effect! When it's destroyed by battle, I can special summon an Earth Monster from my deck with 1500 ATK or less!" I took my deck from the disc, searching through it quickly. I was actually envying my opponent's disk if it was like the one from 5ds that could search for cards on its own. "I special summon my Amazoness Fighter to the field!" ATK 1500.

The buff woman was rather similar to my other amazoness, sans the sword, and with turquoise clothing rather than purple.

"Another of those chicks?" He commented. "Well, unlike your first, this one only stops battle damage, it doesn't send it back at me. Armed Dragon LV 10! Wipe it out!"

I was again somewhat puzzled by my opponent's tactics. _If he'd taken down the other monsters, he could've just tossed a card and used that thing's effect to destroy the card. _I nontheless sent it to my grave, hoping he'd attack the middle card.

"Now, Red Eyes! Attack his left most card!"

I sent Necro Gardna to the grave with a smirk, knowing its effect to negate an attack would probably come in handy later.

"Now, Photon Wyvern! Continue the pattern!"

I laughed aloud. "Big mistake!" I said as the card flipped up, revealing what looked like a sentient marshmallow with rosy cheeks and a fanged mouth on top of its head. "Thanks to Marshmallon's flip effect, it can't be destroyed in battle! And due to it's second effect, attacking it just cost you 1000 life points!" The creature lunged across the field, biting him on the leg, and he shook it off with a curse. "That won't help you for long! I play Armed Dragon's effect, and discard a card from my hand to destroy all face up monsters you control!"

I slid the puffball in, wondering what I'd do now. _Next turn he'll attack my other card, which is Spirit Reaper, which can't be destroyed by battle either. But then he can blast that too with Armed Dragon, and bye bye life points. _

I put my hand on my deck, and felt a familiar and reassuring presence in the card. _Nice of you to finally show up. _I commented. "I summon Reflect Bounder in attack mode!"

The monster floated onto the field, moonlight glimmering off its mirrors.

"What good is that going to do you? I can just discard a card and destroy it with Armed Dragon LV 10."

"...Okay, didn't think about that. But in the meantime- Reflect Bounder, take out his Mirage Dragon! Reflection of Doom!"

He threw his arms up as the beam of light shot through his monster and into him, knocking him down to 1700 life points.

_And if he attacked RB with anything, he'd be taking at least that much between RB's effect and battle damage. But since he has Armed Dragon…_"I set a card face down and end my turn."

_Double Summon may just be a bluff, but with him it may be enough. _

He drew, and looked at his hand, than me. "I set two cards face down, and end my turn."

My eyes widened at the sight of the next card. _Dark Hole! This would destroy every monster on the field!...But without anything to attack him directly with,and two face down cards that might negate it, no point to using it._

"I end my turn as is."

He didn't even look at his next card as he drew it. "You must be really confident in those face down cards behind the monster. Too bad they're about to become useless! I activate my face down card- Royal Decree!"

The color drained from my face.

"I see you're aware of its effect. An effect which negates any other trap cards on the field!"

_Blast! Now I can't use Negate Attack! He'll reveal my monster with an attack, then destroy it with LV 10!_

"Five Head Dragon, begin his doom! Attack his set monster!"

"That's not going to do you much good! Spirit Reaper's effect means it can't be destroyed by battle!"

The Purple Robed Figure appeared as the card flipped over, and his scythe spun rapidly, creating a shield that effortless deflected the attack.

"So you've saved yourself from a single turn. It won't help next time. I play Armed Dragon's Effect during Main phase 2- so your monster is destroyed along with Reflect Bounder!"

I sent both to the grave, and reached for my deck, stopping as I touched the card. Until my hands had touched it, I hadn't realize how tired and sore I felt from the abuse I'd taken in the duel- and the second they touched it, that weariness seemed to vanish. I drew it with a confused look, but understood once I saw the card. _The Seal of Orichalcos! _I looked at my hand. _I can use Dark Hole to destroy his monsters, then summon and with Double Coston- I don't _need _this card to win. But…_ "You know, I've got to ask something. If you won this, how many deaths would that be on your hands?"

"I stopped counting." He said with a shrug. "Also, some of them might have survived, they'd just be, well...paralyzed and whatnot."

_...Okay, I doubt this thing would take souls anyway, but there's no doubt that if a single person deserves it, it would be him._

"I activate the spell card Dark Hole!" A vortex appeared above the field, and his monsters started to float towards it. "Your Five Headed Dragon may be immune to destruction in battle, but card effects are another story!"

"You sure about that?!" He yelled over the sound of the wind. "I activate my face down quickplay- Forbidden Lance! It means my Five Headed Dragon loses 800 ATK, but no other spell or trap cards can affect it this turn!"

I watched his other monsters go, swearing in my head. _Blast it! And I don't have the firepower to get past that thing!...But, with that in my grave I can deal with one attack, and by setting Double Coston I can deal with another. He can draw another monster, in which case he can destroy DC and I negate the other attack, a spell card that'd destroy DC in which case I can negate his only attack, a spell card for piercing and I can negate that attack, or he can draw something completely useless. If I set DC, I should be safe...should being the key word._

"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." I said, trying not to sound like it was hopeless.

He drew, and shrugged. "I activate Pot of Greed." He looked at his two new cards, and I got the feeling he wasn't smiling because he drew a card that would hurt me less.

"Well, I doubt this'll matter, but what the heck. I activate Blue Medicine, which will increase my life points by 400."

_2100 Life Points? As if this wasn't going to be dicey enough!_

I opened my mouth to say something to that effect, but stopped and whipped my head to the side as I...I felt someone approaching, several people actually. _What is that, a spider sense? that's the second time that's happened today._

"Whoa! I've seen some big dragons in my time, but that behemoth takes the cake!" Jaden said from barely far enough for me to hear.

I facepalmed in reply. _Well, at least if they witness my defeat...no way this guy would try to throw me off with witnesses...unless he threw all of us off or something._

"Ah, good, an audience. Crushing my enemies is always more fun with one of those." Baldy chuckled.

"Don't count yourself so perfect just yet." I snapped back. "Plenty of duels have come down to fewer life points than this!"

"You're down to 400 life points, hiding behind monster after monster, while I've got a massive Dragon that can obliterate anything in a single hit. What is my disadvantage here?"

"Your ego for one." Alexis commented, walking up behind Jaden with Syrus tagging after. "Also, did you two know that night duels like this were against academy rules?"

"Well, let me put it this way. There's also a rule against ante duels, right?"

"Yeah? What's your point?" She asked.

"Well, he was breaking that rule on the boat ride over here. And there sure as hell must be rules against throwing the loser off a cliff."

"...Come again?" She said flatly.

"You agreed to those terms." He said flatly. "I win, you go over the cliff. You lose, you go over the cliff."

"I'm guessing you know those mean the same thing." I responded, looking back at my opponent.

"Yep. And it's about to happen! I activate Fairy Meteor Crush! Which means when my monster attacks a defensive monster, you'll take piercing battle damage! And no monster's defense would be high enough to stop my Dragon! Go! Elemental Crush!"

"You're forgetting one important thing though!" I said as the beams of energy came towards me. "There's more to a duel then just the field- there's also what's removed from play, or what's in the grave!"

"What do you mean?" Jaden and Syrus both asked.

"I play the ability of Necro Gardna! By banishing it from my grave, I can negate your attack!"

The red armored warrior flew from my graveyard, pony tail flowing behind him as he intercepted the attack, stopping it cold and causing the beams to vanish.

"Bah, you survived one more turn- what good will it do you now?"

I looked at my deck. _I hate to admit it, but he's got a point. The only cards that could kill that thing need three Tributes, and all my field has is a useless spell card, and a trap card I can't use with Royal Decree out...but that doesn't mean it's hopeless just yet. _ "I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve! And if you think I'll stop fighting while I have a single life point yet, oh buddy, are you ever wrong!"

_I still have three possible cards that could let me survive another turn. I could draw Kuriboh, or Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy his Trap card. Then I just would have to hope he didn't summon something else to attack with, since I'd only be able to negate one Dragon's attack with Kuriboh and Mirage Dragon would make my trap useless. If I draw Battle Fader, I can negate a direct attack and end the battle phase, while also getting a monster on the field for a possible tribute summon. Or if I draw Monster Reborn, I can bring back my Amazoness Swordswoman and turn that dragon's strength against him. _

_It's a slim chance, but it's better than none. _

I set my hand on the card, taking a breath, and a moment later I looked at my graveyard in in confusion. _What? Do I have a second copy of Reflect Bounder? Because this card feels almost the exact same as when I drew his._

"Hurry up and draw! I won't let you stall my victory!"

I slowly brought the card up so I could look at it, then at my field, than back at it in disbelief. _What the...? This card wasn't in my deck! It was a favorite in my digital decks, but...but...I do have Double Summon face down...and this card's effect is...Heart of the Cards, maybe you're not a load of garbage. _

"What are you waiting for! Either end your turn or play your last pathetic card!"

I chuckled. "My deck doesn't have any pathetic cards!...except for maybe Kuriboh." _Yeah, I couldn't resist that one. _"Every card in this deck- in either of my decks- is here for a reason!. And even if my big guns went down, I've still got plenty of bite left over to take you down! And buddy, you're about to go down hard!"

"Must be some card you just drew if you're that confident." Alexis commented.

"Well, boasting aside- Actions speak louder than words! So to start things off- I activate my face down spell card Double Summon! With it, I'm allowed an extra Normal Summon during this turn!" I took one last look at the card, almost wanting to kiss it for luck before I slammed it on my disk. "Behold- this is the monster that's going to end you! Dark Valkyria- Take to the field!...Also, I really hope that all the attacks haven't damaged my hearing because I just now realize I've been yelling this whole time!"

His response to that comment was stopped in his throat as he laid eyes on my new monster as she materialized on the field. She was a purple-skinned woman, silver armor shining in the moonlight. Pale white gems glittered on her simplistic helmet, on her shoulder pauldrons and on a small necklace she wore over the armor. Two black gems were attached to the top of her gloves, which came almost all the way to her elbows, and made her fingers look like talons. Boots came to below her knees, and let some of her leg show where it wasn't covered by her skirt. There were grey gems on her back as well, forming a square. It was all very… form fitting. ATK 1800.

I saw him swallowing several times, shifting uncomfortably a bit. "Well, as...interesting as that card is to look at- and the guy behind you is actually drooling while he's looking at it-"

"I am not!" Syrus yelled, and I glanced back to see him wiping his mouth, Alexis shaking her head with a smirk.

"What good is that normal monster going to do you?"

I chuckled darkly. "You ever heard the expression, don't judge a book by it's cover? And don't forget- thanks to the spell card, I have a second normal summon this turn. But first, I flip Summon my other face down- Double Coston!"

"Sweet! Even that behemoth can't stand up to Dead Root!"

"*Sigh.* First off Jaden, it's Dreadroot, not dead root. Dread- as in extreme fear or apprehension, not dead, as in what his Dragon will be in a moment…also he went to the grave, so it'd be a different Wicked God even if that was what I was summoning, which it isn't. Because secondly, the card I'm going to normal summon is already on the field!"

"...Huh?" I head four voices speak at once.

"Dark Valkyria's one of the rarer types of monster- a Gemini monster. And before someone make a horoscope joke, I'll explain what that means. And I'll be sure to use small words so Baldy over there can actually understand it."

"I'm not bald you ass! I have a shaved head! There's a difference!"

"Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that." I chuckled. "Gemini monsters are effect monsters that are treated as normal monsters while on the field or in the graveyard. And the only way to 'unlock' their effect is to normal summon them again- or to give up a normal summon you've got left over, if it helps to think of it that way."

"And since you've got a summon left over from the spell card…" Alexis said, realizing why I'd done it.

"Exactly." I turned to my monster, deciding to ham it up again because why not. "Dark Valkyria, unlock your hidden power and reveal your true potential!" I thrust my fist in the air, realizing this might be the one place I could do stuff like that and not be called crazy. "Gemini Summon!"

The white gems scattered along her armor turned to Blue, Green, and red on the sides of her helmet. The gems on her gloves glowed a bright fiery red, and the black gems on her back glowed the same color as the armor they were attached to shifted, expanded, and exploded into a pair of metal wings.

Her helmet expanded from a simple coned shape into what looked like a three pointed crown, the points on the side of it shaped like wings.

She leapt into the air as her ATK increased up to 2100.

"That's her 'hidden power?' A slight increase in ATK? How is that supposed to defeat my dragon?" He laughed. "I'll admit it's not bad for a level four monster, but I don't see the point."

"No.I don't suppose you would, not with a monster like the Five Headed Dragon out." I pointed directly at it. "The power increase is due to the spell counter that was placed on her when Gemini summoned, which yes, does give her another 300 ATK. But it's got another purpose beyond that! By removing that spell counter, she can destroy any one monster on the field! Even your Dragon!"

"What!"

"Dark Valkyria, it's time to take that ugly beast down! But first, wipe out his Five Headed Dragon! Dark Spectrum Surge!"

She put her hands in front of her, and drew them back before thrusting them forward with a yell, a beam of light shooting from her hands and wiping the creature off the map. A she lowered her hands, I saw the gems across her armor had gone back to white, though the wings and other alterations stayed.

"Of course, that was an effect, which means she's still able to attack during the battle phase. Now, you've got 2100 Life points left. She has 1800 with the counter gone, and my Double Coston has 1700. I could just attack with her, than it, and finish you off that way. But considering she just single handedly turned this duel around, I figure she deserves the full honors anyway." I held up the last card in my hand, weighing the risks of using it one more time in my mind. _He deserves it if anyone does. That might not make it right, but it's better than letting him go free, and can't throw him off the cliff, especially not with others here to see it._ "It was your disk that made me think of using it to begin with." I lied. "You might even recognize it."

I held it out to him, and he stared at it blankly, before his eyes widened. "No- that can't be."

"Oi contraire- it very much is! I activate the field spell- The Seal of Orichalcos!" I slid it in the end of my disk, and raised it above my head on instinct as a beam of light shot upwards, spreading into a ring of light that was large enough to surround the field. It slammed into the ground around us, another ring appearing outside it, writing appearing between the two circles. Finally, a design appeared inside the smaller circle, shooting past my feet as it traced along the ground, forming an uneven six pointed star- a unicursal hexagram.

I suddenly felt like I was standing up straighter, and that I could run for a mile without being tired, the last of my fatigue washed away. Both made me suspect that the powers of the card were in fact more than in the real world, as did the fact that he was rubbing at his forehead in disbelief. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in DV's armor, and saw my eyes were glowing the same blue-green as the seal, along with a miniaturized version of it burning in the middle of my forehead.

_Well, karma has a way of doing things like this to guys that deserve it. _"This field spell has several effects- but the only one that matters right now is that it'll boost the ATK of every monster I control by 500!"

The same glowing seal appeared on the forehead of my monster, but unlike the clearly evil look in the show, it simply made her look more intimidating than she was already. "Dark Valkyria- Time to end this! Sky Strike Slash!"

She lowered herself to the ground, but only so she could push off of it and soar into the air, floating in place just long enough for terror to appear on his face, before she swooped down and slashed him with her talons, knocking him to the ground, and wiping his life points out.

For a moment, I waited for the seal to close on him, stealing his soul, but instead he merely stayed there motionless as the holograms faded. It took me a moment to realize he'd just been knocked cold by the final attack.

I shook my head as I walked over to his unconscious body, internally laughing at my own stupidity. _The Holograms may sting, but there's no way it did that. He probably just hit his head when DV hit him. _I bent over him, checking for a pulse just to make sure I hadn't accidentally killed him. It was definitely there.

"So, what do we do with him now?" Jaden asked as he and the other walked over. "I mean...was he serious about tossing people off the cliff?"

"Extremely." I said through a jaw that clenched on its own. "Luckily for him, as much as I'm sorely tempted to inflict some justice on him in return, that'd make me no better than him."

"So what do we do?"

Alexis looked around nervously. "Well, security was already alert because of your duel with Chazz- and between that giant Dragon and the beam of light that just went into the sky, it's amazing they aren't here already."

I thought for a moment, before taking his arm, and sliding the duel disk off, also taking the deck. I took my cards out of my duel disk, and then slid that one onto his arm. Patting him down, I found a few more decks in his coat, which I took and slid into my jacket pockets. "He can't duel without cards, and with that disk they might take him as a student out after curfew...anyone got a pen or something for a gloating note, so they'll see he was in an ante duel that he lost?"

"You know that if you get caught-"

"Already on Crowler's blacklist for beating him, not like this will make things too much worse." I cut Alexis off, sliding the duel disk on my arm. "Wow, this thing is a lot lighter than it looked." I turned it off, and the zones slid into the little storage unit before it folded shut. "And it's way less bulky than a normal disk. Yeah, this is a keeper."

I looked at him again, before deciding against leaving a scattered deck- apart from not wanting to give him any cards to work with, odds were the cards belonged to people that wouldn't have wanted them just left on the ground. "Come on- let's amscray before security _does _show up."

I reached into the pocket as we walked quickly away from the area, flipping through the cards before I found the one I'd been looking for. "Think I might frame this on the wall as a memento- what'da think?" I held up the Five Headed Dragon I'd taken from him.

"What about the other cards?"

"Some I might be able to use...most of them I'll probably leave at the cardshop, make sure they get to people who actually deserve them." I said with a shrug.

"I've heard worse ideas tonight."  
"So, what was that Alexis said about you and Chazz dueling?" I asked Jaden to change the subject.

_Well RB, you got me beat up and almost killed, but...well...okay, it wasn't the worst idea in history, but if you pull something like this again- Coaster. Not kidding._

* * *

**So, this actually was done fairly quickly. Maybe because it was a continuation of a duel instead of starting from scratch?...I dunno, but I doubt it'll happen this fast next time, between my other stories and my new job.**

**Still, I literally spent like 4-5 hours today dueling a friend- with decks that are almost the same as Mark's- so I dunno. My goal is a new chapter every 2 weeks at the most, but there's no guarantees. **

**Until then- Sayonara.**


	7. Mysteries of the Sea- Defense vs Defense

_You know, yesterday I thought this whole thing would be awesome. Now, between the maniac throwing people off cliffs, and the fact that this is actually a school- not so much. _I thought as Crowler droned on, making me almost tempted to follow Jaden's example and just conk out.

"Mr. Fenix!"

I sighed and pushed myself so I wasn't leaning on my desk as much. "Yeah?"

"Since it's obvious you're so interested in this lesson-" sarcasm dripped from his voice, "can you please explain the difference between a monster's type and a monster's attribute?"

I raised an eyebrow, wondering if this was meant to be a difficult question. "Well, for starters there are...I think 19 types if I just counted right, and 6 attributes, not including the Divine type for the Egyption God cards."

"And can you recite these types and attributes?"

"Attributes come in LIGHT, DARK, FIRE, WATER, WIND, and EARTH. Types...let's see, probably the most common are Warriors, Dragons, Spellcasters, and Machines...Then there's Winged Beast, Beast, Beast-Warrior, Dinosaur, Fairy, Fiend, Insect, Plant, Pyro, Reptile, Rock, Sea Serpent, Aqua and Fish, (though I don't know why those are really different from each other), Thunder, Zombie and...I can't think of any others." _Since Psychic and Wyrm type didn't exist when the anime was made, small chance they'd be known here._

He seemed impressed despite himself, and glanced around the room before picking some other sap to pick on.

_Seriously, you'd think a school all about dueling would involve more dueling. _"Mr. Neptune- I was reading that essay you turned in for extra credit yesterday, and wanted to discuss with the class. If you would allow me to?"

"No problem man." I glanced up and over at the person who'd spoken- a Ra Yellow with what sounded like a 'surfer dude' accent.

_Also- who the F*** has a last name like Neptune?...granted, my last name here is Fenix, but that's different._

"Mr. Neptune's essay was about 'a perfect defense' in the game. Can someone explain what this means? Perhaps Mr. Fenix again, since he seems to be on such a roll today?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, first off, there can't really be such thing as a 'perfect' defense, just a very good one."

He gave me a skeptical look. "Is that so?"

"First off, something that'd nuke the field, like say Heavy Storm or Dark Hole, or cards that'd return monsters to the hand like Hane-Hane or Golem Sentry could disrupt a setup if not destroy it altogether. Secondly, with new cards coming out constantly, if the defense can't be adapted to deal with them, it'd fall apart too. Thirdly, most of the time if a card got that powerful, it'd be banned or at least limited, which would hit the entire deck pretty hard."

"What if it's cause the perfect defense is a good offense?" Neptune said casually.

"Then that's a good offense. Perfect is a subjective term anyway." I waved a hand, fighting the temptation to ask Crowler if I could go back to ignoring him.

"I believe you described the deck you used against your first proctor to be your more defensive deck?" Crowler asked me, a smile on his face.

_Oh godf*******damit, I just walked right into his little trap, didn't I?...Meh, better than that thing with Jaden and the girls dorm. _

"In a way." I answered carefully. "My Assault Deck is more powerful because it keeps my opponent on the defensive, and thus they don't have a chance to attack most of the time. My other deck relies more on defense though, until I can bring out one of my heavy hitters to hopefully win the duel that turn or next turn."

"Whereas his deck is designed to lockdown the opponent while whittling down their lifepoints, is it not?"

Neptune nodded.

"Then perhaps we should have a duel to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of both types of defense. But just to make sure you're both motivated, the loser has to write a 10 page essay on the subject."

"...So, just to be clear, which deck are you talking about me using? The 'best defense is a good offense' deck I beat you with, or the deck I haven't publicly embarrassed anyone with yet?"

"The latter." Crowler said, a vein popping in his forehead.

"And to be extra clear, I'm allowed to use all the cards in it? Because you know, if those more controversial cards were taken out it'd ruin the entire deck and defeat the purpose of having this duel."

"It doesn't matter what you bring out." Neptune said, standing up and walking down to the front of the room, sliding a duel disk onto his arm. "I've never lost to a Slifer, and I don't plan on starting today."

I chuckled. "You know, that's the attitude that lead to someone else I know being beat twice by the same Slifer. And also lead to someone else else being beaten by two different Slifers within the same day- not naming any names here." I smiled as I reached into my backpack, and pulled out the duel disk I'd taken from Baldy the night before.

I'd asked about custom discs like this, and apparently they were allowed, most people just didn't use them because they were more expensive than a standard disk. I slid it onto my wrist, trying to decide whether it looked good with the red jacket or not, and sliding my deck into it. I hit the auto shuffle as I walked down to stand in front of the Ra. "So, loser gets an essay as homework. Better ask him if he wants it double spaced or not."  
"Too scared to ask him yourself?" He responded, activating his disk.

"The only one here that should be scared is you." I held my arm up, and the front of the disc swung out, allowing each zone to slide out with the same 'snkit' sounding noise, before the spiky bit on the end snapped into place with a satisfying 'thud'. _Come on- awesome catchphrase, think of something, think of something…_ _F***! Why is this hard?_

"Time to sink or swim!" He drew his sixth card before I could. "I'll start by tossing out my Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness in attack mode!" ATK 1800.

It looked almost the exact same as my own Kaiser Seahorse: An aquatic purple-armored warrior with a weapon that somewhat resembled a shaolin spade. "Then I'll set two cards on the back row and end my turn."

I drew, and considered my options for a moment. "I"ll start things off with a special summon. Cyber Dragon, take to the field!" ATK 2100

The metallic snakelike machine took to the field with a roar. "Thanks to its effect, I can bring it out while my opponent controls a monster and I don't. Then, I'll normal summon my Pitch-Black Warwolf!" ATK 1600.

The werewolf snarled as it readied its sword.

"I play a trap! Gozen Match!" Neptune's card flipped faceup as he spoke. "Thanks to this, we can only control one attribute of monster at a time! Which means one of your creatures is about to be swimming with the fishes!"

I looked between the light-type machine and dark-type wolf before reluctantly sending the latter to the grave. _Better hope his other face down isn't a trap._

"Now, I'll use my second card as well! Gravity Bind!" As the card flipped up, both monsters were suddenly paralyzed by what almost looked like small black holes, keeping them from moving at all. "This card-"

"I know what it does." I cut him off. _And even if I didn't, it says on the card exactly what it does. _"It means monsters can't attack if they're level 4 or higher." _And it means I need something out to get rid of both cards, else this is going to be dang near impossible. _"I set one card on the backrow and end my turn."  
"Back to me then." He smiled as he saw his card- which seldom boded well for this game.

"I activate a field spell- A Legendary Ocean!" He set the card in the end of his disc, and I suddenly had to fight panic as the field around us turned to the bottom the ocean, holographic water and all. "With this card out, every water monster gains 200 ATK and Defense, and has its level decreased by one while in our hands or on the field. Which means my Sea Serpent is now a level 3 monster!"

The gravity field holding it disappeared, leaving it standing firmly on the bottom of the sea, with 2000 ATK.

"Next, I summon my Amphibious Bugroth MK 3!" ATK 1500, 1700 w/ field spell

The apparently sentient submersible appeared next to the other monster, giant cannons on its 'back' pointed right at me. "And while Umi is face up on the field, this card can attack directly. And guess what- my field spell's name is treated as 'Umi!' Go- Double Barrel Water Cannon!" The water in the field compressed into the devices on the things back and came right at me.

"I play Kuriboh's effect! By discarding it from my hand, I can reduce the battle damage from one attack to zero!" The fluffball floated in front of me, and the water was stopped cold before my creature faded.

He smiled slightly, and nodded his head as if to acknowledge it was a good move. "I'll end my turn with that."  
I drew, and considered my options. _While Gozen's Match is out, I can only play Light monsters. Unless I destroyed Cyber Dragon so I could play something. I can still set other types, but once they're faceup they're gone. And my deck depends too much on multiple types of creatures- I need to get rid of that card._

_But I also need to nix his gravity bind so I can fight back, and with his Bugroth I'm wide open. And I've only got 4000 life points- three hits _max _and I'm done. _"I play another card face down and end my turn."

He drew, and shrugged. "Meh, may as well. I summon Yasha in attack mode!" ATK 1900, 2100 w/ field spell.

The blue-skinned monster that appeared held a sword in each hand, and had a very tribal look to him.

"And when it's summoned, I can return one spell or trap you control to the hand- so I'll choose the one you just put down."

I grimaced as I returned Draining Shield to the hand, knowing it would've come in handy. _Least I can reuse it next turn. _"Now, time to deal with your Cyber Dragon! Kasha, wipe it out!"

Thanks to his field spell, both were equally matched, and the spirit drove its blades into the machine before a laser blast from its mouth destroyed it, causing both monsters to fade apart. "And of course, now you're wide open for-"

"I play my facedown trap card! Zoma the Spirit!" The card popped from the back of my disc and I put it on top. "It's now summoned as a Dark Monster in defense mode!" DEF 500.

The monster looked downright demonic, with a huge skull-like face that jutted forward, three giant nails on each hand, and spikey wings on its back. It curled up on itself in the bonds of the same invisible force that'd held my Cyber Dragon, since it was a level four monster now.

"That won't hold me off for long! Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness! Take it out!"

I smiled as the creature lunged forward, obliterating the monster. "You know, there's a reason it's called a 'trap monster'. Zoma was summoned as an effect monster! And thanks to that effect, you're hit with damage equal to the monster that destroyed it!"

The ghostly afterimage of the creature went straight at him, knocking his lifepoints down to 2000, and forcing him back several steps.

"You might have gotten me with that, but you're not getting out unscathed yourself! Amphibious Bugroth MK 3- Double Barrel Water Cannon!"

The twin streams of water knocked me on my ass, and took me down to 2300.

"That does it for my turn."

I considered my options as I got back to my feet again. _Now that my field is clear, I can summon whatever I want, but that machine of his packs a serious wallop. I've got Draining Shield in my hand, so I could potentially undo that last attack, but I need more than that to win this. _I drew, and was glad I had at least one break. "I activate Pot of Greed!...I don't need to explain what this card does, do I?"

He rolled his eyes at me as I drew my two cards.

_Booya! _"Time for another Special Summon! Vice Dragon, to the field!" ATK 2000, halved by effect.

The purple dragon spread its emerald wings as it flared into being, roaring. "It's effect is pretty much the same as Cyber Dragon's, except its ATK is halved when its special summoned using its effect." It shrank as if to emphasise this, until it was maybe three feet high.

"So, do you want me to pretend to be scared or something?"

"I'd rather see the real thing- and I'm about to! Or did you forget I haven't normal summoned yet this turn?"

I saw a hint of worry on his face, and smiled in satisfaction. "I tribute my Dark Attribute Vice Dragon to bring out a Dark Attribute Machine- Jinzo!" ATK 2400.

The cybernetic burn-victim looking creature with green armor made him look worriedly at his field, and I was amazed his neck didn't break from how fast he was whipping his head around at everything.

"Thanks to his effect- every trap on the field is negated!" The gravity bind didn't even appear around him, and I smiled as I raised my hand to point at his own machine. "Jinzo- time to prove who's the superior machine! Wipe out his Bugroth with Cyber Energy Shock!"

Energy appeared between his hands, before he Kamehamehaed it at my opponent's monster, dropping him down to 1300 Life Points. "That'll do it for me." I smiled.

He grimaced as he drew his card, but then he looked at in shock before laughing. "Man, you just gotta love Irony."

"Do I?" I snarked.

"I summon my Spawn Alligator!" ATK 2200, 2400 w/ field spell.

The large brown armored gator snarled, showing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

"Since my field spell reduces the level of all water monsters in my hand, it became a level four monster, meaning I didn't need the tribute to summon it."

"Clever boy." I commented, kicking myself for not putting Draining Shield facedown on the field again.

"Spawn Alligator- Gator Grab!"

"Return fire with Cyber Energy Shock!"

The reptile lunged forward, tail propelling it faster, and its jaws closed on my monster's head as the energy beam surged forward- both were again destroyed.

"Now, I'll have my other monster launch a direct attack!"

I was knocked backwards as his creature's spear-thing struck me in the gut, and I saw stars as my life points went to 400.

_Oww. _

I slowly stood back up, glaring at his trap cards, and his field spell as well. "My draw." I had to fight a smile as I saw the monster. "I set a monster in defense mode, and set one card on the backrow."

He drew, and I could tell he wasn't too displeased with the card. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! With it, your facedown is history!"

_Good thing Draining Shield wasn't my only trap. _I slid the trap into the grave.

"Now, I tribute my Sea Serpent to Summon Suijin!" ATK 2500, 2700 W/ field spell.

"So I'll have it attack your facedown monster!"

"Why do you morons always fall for this?" I asked aloud as the card flipped faceup, and the jet of water just bounced off the soft rubbery creature. "Marshmallon can't be destroyed in battle, and if it's attacked while face down, it inflicts 1000 damage to the opponent!"

He shook his leg in annoyance as the creature swam over and chomped down on it, before it was dislodged and swam back to my side, leaving him with an even 1000 life points.

He glared at me. "I end my turn."  
I drew, and smiled at the card. _This'll come in handy, I just know it. _"I'll end my turn as is."

He laughed at his new card. "Time to finish this! I summon my Amphibious Bugroth MK 3!"

The same monster appeared that had before, and I saw Crowler smiling from the side.

"Time to end this! Hit him directly!"

"It's not going to be nearly _that _easy! I play the effect of Swift Scarecrow!" The monster appeared in a blur to block his creature's attack. "By discarding it, I can negate a direct attack and instantly end the battle phase as well!"

He grimaced. "I end my turn."

I drew, and sighed. _Finally a break. _"I activate Fissure! Which'll destroy the monster you control with the lowest ATK!"

He grimaced as he sent his machine to the grave, then drew his new card. "I end my turn as is."

I drew as well, and my eyes widened. _A Wicked God card- yes! If I can bring this out, I can destroy his combo completely!...But I need to be smart about how I do it._

He drew, and looked less than pleased with his card again. "I end my turn as is."

I drew, and instantly played the card. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light! Which'll keep you from attacking for the next 3 turns."

He drew wordlessly, and set a monster in defense mode, gesturing to me as the first sword disappeared.

_Perfect! Double Summon! I just need a couple more cards! _I gestured to him again, since I couldn't do anything that turn.

He drew, and finally seemed happy with the card. "I activate Tribute to the Doomed! By discarding a card from my hand, I can destroy one monster you control!"

Marshmallon was suddenly gone in a flash of light.

I drew and smiled. _Now, I just need Double Coston. _"I set this monster in defense mode and end my turn."

He drew again, irritated now. "One turn left for swords." He said, obviously done with his turn.

I drew, and hesitated at the sight of the new card. _Dust Tornado- question isn't if I should use it, the question is what to use it on. _"I'll set a card on the backrow and end my turn."

He drew, and finally seemed happy with his card. "I summon my Deepsea Warrior in attack mode!" ATK 1600, 1800 w/ field spell. "Just like before, my field spell reduces it from a level five to a level four monster meaning I can instantly bring it out."

The green-blue creature that appeared looked like the cross between the creature from the black lagoon and a power ranger, with a three pronged harpoon held in his hands. "And while Umi is faceup on the field, he's not affected by spell cards- meaning your Sword won't stop him from attacking!"

"...Uh, genius? Your Gravity Bind stops him from attacking."

"...I know, which is why I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy my Gravity Bind."

"Totally forgot until I said something, didn't you."

"Oh shut up." He snapped. "Deep Sea Warrior...let's hold off on the attack for now, actually."

I raised an eyebrow.

"What? I'm not going to fall for another Marshmallon."

"Then why did you- argh, forget it."

"I set one card face down and end my turn."

My swords disappeared. _But with Gozen's Match still out..._I drew, and groaned audibly. _Not what I wanted at all. I could put it out- but as soon as Spirit Reaper is flipped face up, it'd be gone too…_ "I activate my facedown card- Dust Tornado! And I'm using it on Gozen Match!"

The tornado became a whirlpool in the water, and slammed into the card, dealing with my deck's weakness. _And now- this should end next turn. Hopefully. _"I set a card in defense mode, and end my turn."

He drew, but didn't even look at his card. "I play a trap- The Spell Absorbing Life! It flips both of your defensive monsters face up, and for each effect monster on the field I gain 400 Life points!"

_Blast! That puts him back up at 2500! _"And now- I activate Card Destruction!"

I froze.

"Ooo, good hand you'll be tossing now?" He gloated, sending his own hand to the grave.

I reluctantly tossed the cards, and drew three new cards.

"Of course, that spirit reaper of yours I can't destroy in battle- but Double Coston is fair game. Deep Sea Warrior- take it out!"

The creature lunged forward, and the two ghostly creatures were speared on either side of the thing's giant spear/trident thing.

"Your move." He smiled mockingly. "Better start composing that essay now- because once I deal with that pathetic barrier of yours, you're chum."

I didn't even bother replying to that as I drew, rapidly thinking through what cards were left in my deck. I looked at my hand, then back at the field- then my brain caught up with me and I looked back at my hand.

I smiled. "Well, how's this for an opening line? Sometimes the perfect defense doesn't have to last forever- just long enough to do what needs to be done. Luck, skill- a little of both- that's what makes a good defense."

"I hope your final paper is more satisfactory." Crowler chimed in from the side. "Or else your grades-"

"I wasn't planning on submitting the paper Crowler. I'm _planning _on winning this thing. And it starts with this! I discard a card from my hand to special summon the Tricky in Defense mode!" DEF 1700.

The caped faceless jester appeared crouched down on my side of the field, and Neptune rolled his eyes. "Please tell me-"

"Next, I play the ability of the card I tossed!" I cut him off. "The Fabled Peggulsus! When it's discarded to the grave by an effect, I'm allowed to special summon it from my grave in face down defense position!"

The almost toy-like pegasus snickered once before the card appeared over it, hiding it from view again.

"And finally- I activate Monster Reincarnation! By discarding the final card from my hand, I can return a monster from my grave to my hand." I pointed straight at him. "The same monster you just sent there with Card Destruction!"

I half covered it as it slid into my hand, keeping him from seeing it just yet. "Tell me, how well do you think that your 'perfect defense' will hold up against a monster so strong, it needs three tributes to bring out?"

He paled. "You mean that Deadtree thing?"

"For crying out loud! Dread! Root! Why can nobody remember that name! It is really not a hard name to remember!...and no, that isn't what I was planning to bring out." I smiled. "That's the dark counterpart of Obelisk. And seeing as you were so confident in beating a 'mere slifer', I suppose it's only appropriate that _Slifer's _counterpart wipes you out!"

I held it above my head. "I tribute The Tricky, The Fabled Peggulus, and Spirit Reaper!" Lightning seemed to be gathering in the clouds now overhead- though I had no idea how that was even possible underwater. "From a darkened sky I call forth the Dark Counterpart of the Sky Dragon! Descend and Devour- The Wicked! Eraser!" I slammed the card down.

The three monsters seemed to melt, and float upwards into the clouds. There was a moment of silence. Then the clouds almost exploded outward, and with a loud roar the creature was revealed.

It was long enough I could barely see all of it at once- The massive head, with a furious beak and fearsome horns. The long arms stretching from a massive chest, with claws ready to rip and tear. The Wings that would've easily dwarfed most planes. The Tail that stretched out behind it, thrashing in anticipation. ATK:?

"What...what does thing thing do?"

"Well let me answer your question with a question. How many life points do you have left?"

"...2500, what's your point?"

"Hmm, and at the moment my creature has 3000 ATK...hardly work attacking either creature then. I'll end my turn as is." _And hope you're dumb enough to take the bait._

"You can't play mind games with me like that! I switch both my monsters into defense mode, and set another 2 cards on the backrow...what the hey?"

The instant the cards had been put down, Eraser had doubled in size with a giant roar, and its ATK meter now showed 6000.

"What gives?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Unlike Slifer, who gains ATK based on the cards in the controller's hand, Eraser's ATK depends on how many cards my opponent has on the field. 1000 each, and since you've got three monsters, a field spell and what I hope are two trap cards...well, not looking too good for you, is it?" I reached for my card.

"Isn't it? I activate another copy of Gravity Bind!"

All the creatures doubled over in the invisible bonds, including Eraser.

I laughed. "Okay, you gain points for actually figuring out that this guy can even be affected by traps like that instead of figuring he was like the original god cards. But luckily for me- I wasn't planning on using him to _attack _you."

"What do you mean?"

"You forgot Slifer's other effect. When a monster is summoned, it loses 2000 ATK or DEF, depending on position, and if it has less than 2000 of that value, it's just as his counterpart, Eraser takes it a step further. When it's destroyed, it 'erases' the entire field with it."

"What?" Several voices exclaimed at once.

"And during my main phase, I can destroy it myself! Wicked Eraser- Go Dark Sacrificial Explosion!"

The creature seemed to gather itself up, rolling into a ball- then it melted back into the goo my monster had turned into to begin with, and it exploded out in razor sharp shards that sent up dust whenever they landed.

When the dust cleared, the field was empty. "Like I said- your type of strategy tends to be easily dismantled if everything on the field is dismantled with it."

"And what now?" He shot at me. "You bring something back with Monster Reborn? Probably something you tossed? Or are you planning to summon something and hope I don't destroy it and you on the next turn?"

"Let's go with C- none of the above. I summon Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf!" The sentient wolf looking helicopter appeared on the field, now alone and unchallenged. ATK 1700.

"And due to this thing's effect, it also summons a Mecha Phantom Beast Token!" ATK 0

A mini-me version of the monster appeared next to it.

"Now, if I've done my math correctly, attacking with Tetherwolf would currently leave you with 800 life points left." I shrugged. "Kinda pointless to have the token out, really, since it won't do any damage with 0 ATK points." I smiled devilishly. "So I'll tribute it to use Tetherwolf's effect! He'll gain 800 ATK points during this attack!"

"What?"

"Hit him directly and finish this off! Go- Hunting Tether!" The creature shot out several grappling lines that struck him in the gut and knocked him to the ground.

"So, 1700 plus 800 equals 2500 ATK, 2500 minus 2500 is zero...Better ask Crowler about whether that paper needed to be double spaced or not." I quipped as the holograms faded.

"It will need to be single spaced, ten pages, and I want one from everyone in the class, including you Mr. Fenix." He smiled devilishly. "Otherwise, how can I be absolutely sure you learned what I was trying to teach?"

"...We could have a rematch?"

He groaned as the bell rang. "Due by this time next week. Now get along to your next class!"

Neptune walked over to me from where he'd been standing as the rest of the class started filing out. "Dang- too bad you have to do it anyway- that was a tense duel."

"Meh, I kinda expected him to pull something like this. He _really _doesn't like being beaten by Slifers."

"Neither do I...But you earned that one. Just realize that next time, I'll be ready for both your Wicked Gods."

"Good thing I've got a third one then. And next time I won't go so easy on you."

He laughed. "Uh huh- sure. See you around Fenix." He filed out of the class too, but I blinked as I thought I saw something floating in the air behind him- what looked like a giant green turtle.

It was gone after I rubbed my eyes and looked again- but I knew I'd seen it. _So, great. Now I've got a stupid essay I have to write _and _I'll be wondering about that all day…_

As I got out the door, RB floated up next to me out of seemingly nowhere.

_Any idea why I just saw a spirit partner floating around this guy?_

I shrugged in the mirror. It turned to a squiggly equals sign, and an image of him and I appeared on opposite sides of it.

_...You think he could be from the real world too?_

Books, to indicate research again.

_How are you even researching this? Talking to other spirits or something?_

His answer was to simply fade away.

"_...Wonder if Buffy ever felt like this with Giles." _I muttered as I headed for the next class.

* * *

**So...Okay, monthly is probably the best we can hope for. Really it just depends on when/how inspiration takes me. This took me ages to start, but I started it yesterday and finished it today.**

**But (And I hate to sound like 'that guy') reviews do really motivate me to write this thing. And believe me, this takes a lot of motivation to do everything.**

**I have to go back through like ten-fifteen times every chapter just to count how many cards are in each person's hand or on the field, and looking up cards and effects? Don't get me wrong, it's fun, but it's also a metric F***ton of work.**

**But, the friend I based 'Jack' off of is having a birthday tomorrow and receiving a lot of new cards from me for it, so maybe dueling with him later on will give me inspiration. Or Dueling Network. I dunno, I kinda have off and on dueling periods.**

**Well, until the next one, Sayonara.**


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